Fantasy - dry dock?

cherylroy · #1 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 11:35 AM

Is the Fantasy in dry dock now?

GaryI · #2 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 11:44 AM

Nope! Its in Cozumel right now. Just saw it on Cozumel Insiders web cam. It is supposed to go into dry dock?
Gary

cherylroy · #3 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 11:57 AM

I thought it was! I convinenced my friends to sail on her vs the Holiday thinking she was going into Dry Dock before their Nov cruise.

Ainsley · #4 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 03:46 PM

the dry dock started early september and ended oct 2nd and it was refurbed in mobile. i took pictures at different times throughout the dry dock. here is the last one i took on the last friday of september. =) i will be on the 6th sailing after the refurb which is oct 27th =) im really excited. this was only a few days before it went back to new orleans to begin her sailings.

cherylroy · #5 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 04:25 PM

oh cool! Thanks for the info - she is already done! Have fun on your cruise!

Bob M · #6 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 04:43 PM

Was the water park upgrade done, thought it would take more time...
Thinking of booking the Fantasy on Nov. 10th, 09 after she goes to the Mobile port....

Snoozeman · #7 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob M

Was the water park upgrade done....

Yes

spencercoop · #8 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 07:16 PM

Yes everything that they have done on the Imagination and the Inspiration has been done to the Fantasy. WaterPark, Serenity, Resort Style Pool, Stateroom Refurbs, etc. Hope you have a great time on her.

Ainsley · #9 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 07:37 PM

actually on cruisecritic there have been many people come back and say negative things about it. here are just some complaints passengers had on the oct 4th sailing that came back this past thursday:
sewage smell
carpet not redone
redoing carpet while they were in port
toxic fumes while in cozumel
the water slide wasnt completed
the water slide overflowing the lido deck when they did open it
light brown drinking water
low water pressure in showers
and some said they didnt set sail until MIDNIGHT on oct 4th!

the list goes on and on and on. this makes me somewhat uneasy.. i sail in 2 weeks.. im hoping that everything is done and ready when i get on board! =( what is everyones thought on this??

the drydock was done here in mobile and i watched as the ship slowly was transformed.. i didnt think there would be that many problems..

ragtiki2005 · #10 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 08:56 PM

Sounds like this ship is still an old rustbucket. I sailed on it 3 years ago and it was really showing its age. It might be time for Carnival to sell it along with the Holiday. Bob

QueenB · #11 (**permalink**) October 11th, 2008, 09:58 PM

We just returned on Thursday from the Fantasy and all of the previous comments were VERY true. It was a horrible trip. The stabalizers were not working for the first two days. Our bed had to be stripped the first night due to soot that had fallen all over it from the air conditioner vent and it took over an hour and a half to get housekeeping to clean the mess. The sewer smell was overwhelming. I took multiple pictures of piles of trash and garbage just simply pushed over against the walls. We knew that we were in trouble when it took over 5 hours to process through and get onboard the ship. We were standing on the Lido deck when we pulled away from the dock after midnight. It was really crazy. I am waiting until Monday to call Carnival and ask for some sort of compensation. This ship was NOT ready for passengers!!! Thank goodness this was not our first cruise. If it had been our first it would have also been our LAST. This was not the normal Carnival standard. They should be ashamed. By the way....did they mention the fire on board???

spencercoop · #12 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QueenB

We just returned on Thursday from the Fantasy and all of the previous comments were VERY true. It was a horrible trip. The stabalizers were not working for the first two days. Our bed had to be stripped the first night due to soot that had fallen all over it from the air conditioner vent and it took over an hour and a half to get housekeeping to clean the mess. The sewer smell was overwhelming. I took multiple pictures of piles of trash and garbage just simply pushed over against the walls. We knew that we were in trouble when it took over 5 hours to process through and get onboard the ship. We were standing on the Lido deck when we pulled away from the dock after midnight. It was really crazy. I am waiting until Monday to call Carnival and ask for some sort of compensation. This ship was NOT ready for passengers!!! Thank goodness this was not our first cruise. If it had been our first it would have also been our LAST. This was not the normal Carnival standard. They should be ashamed. By the way....did they mention the fire on board???

There was a fire onboard???? What happend??? That is so many problems. Wow they really needed to cancel the first cruise and do more work. That is a really bad rep for Carnival and I love Carnival. Is it true that they water slide was overflowing on the deck below. If you have any pics please post. Yea the Fantasy is 18 years old. Can you believe it it doesn't really look that old, but a lot of people say it is starting to show its age.

cherylroy · #13 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 01:05 AM

oh my gosh, I feel soooooo bad. I pray that the ship is better by November as I begged my friends to take her out of N.O. as compared to the Holiday out of mobile. Anyone just getting back from the Fantasy, keep us informed. I sailed on her twice and LOVED her!!!!!!! That was before the refurbising.

Do they go through every stateroom and upgrade? What exactly do they do when they drydock?

NewOrleansCruiser · #14 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 11:21 AM

I also want to know about the fire onboard! OMG!

We sailed on her in May and are rebooked for Christmas...I hope they get their act together soon

ScurvyDog · #15 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 12:04 PM

We sailed Fantasy out of Mobile right before drydock and things were excellent. I am sure it will be up to standard after a few trips. For some reason the first few trips after a drydock are filled with assorted problems. It does look like after this has happened so many times they could do a better job of being ready.

jetskier · #16 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 12:11 PM

There was not a fire per se. They were cutting a pipe and the smoke triggered the fire alarm. This was explained by a letter to everyones cabins.

Apparently not all the cabins were updated. Also Camp Carnival was not moved as originally stated. It was suppose to go to the Verandah deck and the Forum lounge enlarged.

Hopefully everything is resolved before we get onboard on Nov 1st.
Dave

QueenB · #17 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 12:20 PM

We were in Cozumel when all of this transpired and only found out about it when we could not reboard the ship. A letter in our stateroom from the captain stated that while the crew was performing maintenance and while they were cutting a large pipe residue on that pipe "became overheated" and resulted in a large amount of smoke traveling to areas on several higher decks. Yet several employees continued to talk about the "fire" on board. During all of this it was suprising the willingness of the crew to discuss all of the apparent problems. When we commented on the smell of sewage we were told that the "tanks were being left open for some reason" by a crew member. There was one thing that bothered me more than everything else. It was the fact that since we were so late boarding the ship and everyone was hungry since most of us had not eaten since breakfast. We were told that during the lifeboat drill many people refused to stop eating their dinner and the crew did not insist that they participate. This must be some sort of MAJOR safety infraction and needs to be addressed by Carnival. It was pretty bad that it became a running joke that the only thing left to go wrong was for the ship to sink. It was as close to mutany on the high seas as I ever want to see again.

Ainsley · #18 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScurvyDog

We sailed Fantasy out of Mobile right before drydock and things were excellent. I am sure it will be up to standard after a few trips. For some reason the first few trips after a drydock are filled with assorted problems. It does look like after this has happened so many times they could do a better job of being ready.

I sail in 2 weeks on the Oct 27th sailing... Do you think that the ship will be somewhat sorted out by then? Pleaseeeee say yes!

cherylroy · #19 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 04:49 PM

I think it will be fine......so YES! But let us know!

spencercoop · #20 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 04:57 PM

Yea they will probably get it sorted out in the next few days, if they haven't got it sorted out yet.

Bob M · #21 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 05:07 PM

We want to sail on her in Nov. '09 out of Mobile....
To bad they can't take her out on a shake down for a couple of days before taking passengers after a major dry dock....

Ainsley · #22 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherylroy

I think it will be fine......so YES! But let us know!

haha thanks. that kinda makes me feel better but im definitely still a little nervous about it. but you have to make the best of every situation.

jetskier · #23 (**permalink**) October 12th, 2008, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob M

We want to sail on her in Nov. '09 out of Mobile....
To bad they can't take her out on a shake down for a couple of days before taking passengers after a major dry dock....

Hey Bob,
Come join us on the Nov 10th sailing. For me it was hard to pass up 6 days and 3 ports.

Dave

Bob M · #24 (**permalink**) October 13th, 2008, 10:42 AM

Hi Dave,
You are almost my neighbor as we are in Ocean Springs next to Biloxi....
Will be booking on Nov. 10th in the next week, shopping for the best price..
Carnival is at $379.00 for a random cabin & $439 for a window cabin...
I think the $9.00 fuel charge will go away but they may raise the price for the cruise...
Bob & Kathy
********************

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetskier

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob M

We want to sail on her in Nov. '09 out of Mobile....
To bad they can't take her out on a shake down for a couple of days before taking passengers after a major dry dock....

Hey Bob,
Come join us on the Nov 10th sailing. For me it was hard to pass up 6 days and 3 ports.

Dave

Paul Motter · #25 (**permalink**) October 13th, 2008, 01:34 PM

I am very sorry to hear this about the Fantasy. I went on Inspiration to see the updates and i thought they were good additions. They still are, but not if the underlying ship is falling apart. I am looking forward to hearing more about this.

CannerPerl · #26 (**permalink**) October 13th, 2008, 03:14 PM

Am wondering if any one has pics of the Fantasy since drydock ... I knwo I would be excited to see them ...

briguy · #27 (**permalink**) October 13th, 2008, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob M

We want to sail on her in Nov. '09 out of Mobile....
To bad they can't take her out on a shake down for a couple of days before taking passengers after a major dry dock....

She will probably be pile of bolts and steel or at the bottom of the ocean by Nov 09. Ships that are 15 years or older are bound to have problems. Carny would be better off auctioning it off and replace it with a ship from this century.

spencercoop · #28 (**permalink**) October 13th, 2008, 11:38 PM

After they sell the 23 year old Holiday the Fantasy will be the oldest ship.

jetskier · #29 (**permalink**) October 14th, 2008, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob M

Hi Dave,
You are almost my neighbor as we are in Ocean Springs next to Biloxi....
Will be booking on Nov. 10th in the next week, shopping for the best price..
Carnival is at $379.00 for a random cabin & $439 for a window cabin...
I think the $9.00 fuel charge will go away but they may raise the price for the cruise...
Bob & Kathy

I ended up getting a 4E up on the Verandah deck for $525.50pp total including tax and fuel. Carnival no longer lets you get an GTY with the Military rate. Usually we just book a 1A GTY and have yet to sleep in one because of getting upgraded.

Dave

lhp · #30 (**permalink**) October 14th, 2008, 02:51 PM

Hey y'all!!!

Just got off the SECOND Fantasy cruise out of drydock....

the bad news is that sadly the folks on the first cruise were not exaggerating at all. Carnival goofed BIG TIME!!! This ship was not ready period....but they had the big Poker Tournament booked on it and did not want to lose the revenue.

The good news is that our cruise (the second one) was MUCH better and I predict that (although it will take a couple more to get it right) eventually it will be back to normal.

Fortunately, none of the incomplete areas were areas that we use. We don't do the kids waterpark...so we were not affected. The big slide is open and the new middle pool looks very nice.

There was the ole familar "whiff" of sewage that you can get from time to time that was pretty presistant in the forward elevator area. Our cabin was ratty. Holes ripped in the carpet etc. But that does not affect our cruise. It was just sad to see.

Karaoke ROCKED!!!!!

Rob in the piano bar ROCKED!!! Be sure to tell him that Linda from Memphis said hi!!!

Michael in the Atrium bar played a lot of wonderful soft jazz. Robbin is the Promenade soloist and he used to be the bass player for a band called the Youngbloods. He is really good.

Music Manilla ROCKED!!!

We sailed on the Imagination a couple of cruises out of drydock and they were still "tweaking"....so we understand that. The Imagination looked like a brand new ship....so that is what we were expecting to see. We were disappointed but it certainly did not stop us from having a BLAST!!

The Fantasy still looked like...the Fantasy. Three of the four Aft elevators were not working. Lido was a mess. The drink machines were constantly broken or out (I must have my coffee in the morning).

Crew and staff were great. Big Tex, Gary, Sam and Jeremy all very visible.

We had a great time and I would sail on her TODAY if I could, because the difficulties again were not in areas that affected me.

But that first cruise was not good....even Big Tex emailed me that he was glad we were on the second one. Those folks on the first one deserve some serious apologies from Carnival.

Carnival made two mistakes. They should have had the Fantasy EOV done on the East coast that did the Inspiration and Imagination. Those ships came out nicely. Secondly, they should have immediately acknowledged there was going to be an issue with the first cruise.

I am not saying they should have cancelled it. I am saying there should have been some serious onboard credit and a future smaller discount.

There would have been some who still would not have been happy...but at least folks would have felt like Carnival acknowledged the problem and made an attempt to say "sorry folks...we goofed"!!!

It is easy for me to overlook a lot because we cruise so often...but I do feel for those folks for whom this is a once a year (or maybe a once in a lifetime) event. I try to keep those folks in mind when something like this happens.