Carnival Fantasy

This ship has moved to Miami, Florida and is no longer in Charleston, SC. I booked a cruise from 2÷22−2÷26 out of Miami, Fl to Key West, FL and Cozumel, Mexico with Kathy Griffin. Kathy Griffin was the whole reason I chose this particular cruise. It was my first cruise and when I found out the cruise was on the fantasy I was a little weary because it was a very old ship. I read reviews and spoke to people who went on the ship and they said it was remodeled so I thought it wouldn’t be a bad experience. Well Carnival decided to wait until the night before the cruise at 10:15 pm to tell us that due to «technical difficulties» we were no longer going to Cozumel and Kathy Griffin was cancelled. The rest of the email explained that we wouldn’t find out where we were going until 10 AM the day of the cruise. Well I called carnival and the customer service representative was very friendly but had no idea what was going on. She kept just basically reading scripting so I disconnected because that wasn’t worth my time. Oh but they gave us $ 50 in onboard credit. since that would fix everything. Oh yeah and the cs person basically was like, «Well you can cancel and get a full refund.» Well no I can’t cancel my flight to Miami and who knows if I’d be able to get another week off to match another cruise. So I get to the airport and we paid for the transfers from the airport to the port. I got to the port at 10:30ish am. If you read about the cruise it says all the tips are electronic but that’s for the cruise, the bus driver and porters are port employees so make sure you have cash to tip them. The port employees were like your ship isn’t going to be here until 3.leave. Well we stayed until 3 and the port got so crowded. The wifi didn’t work and there was just a vending machine. Well at 3 the ship wasn’t here. at 4 it wasn’t there. There was no email of what was going on. no announcement from the employees at the port and they didn’t know what was going on. Well we found out the ship was at port Everglades and then got moved to port Miami. Well it was supposed to be port Miami from the beginning. Then they said it wasn’t going to be there until 7, and they were providing us with buses to some bay place with restaurants. The last time I had ate was at 1 am so I was starving and went on the bus. The bus driver said he would be at the spot he dropped us off every 15 minutes. So we ate and then went right back to the spot to make sure we could get back since everything was going awry. Well the bus never showed up and other people from our cruise were asking all the busses if they knew where our bus was of when it was coming. Finally another bus driver that was there for somewhere else said he would take us back to the port. Well on the way taking us back he stopped at another place and tried to say that was where we were to wait at and we were at the wrong place, but that was not where our bus driver told us to wait. Well we go back and finally around 9ish we boarded the boat. They did give us sandwiches from dominos while we were boarding the ship. The safety was supposed to be shortly after we got on the ship but they never mentioned it. I was extremely tired and upset about the experience so far. I booked a cruise for my birthday and to see Katy Griffin, and now everything had changed. So far the fantasy had turned into a disaster. I got some drinks and went back to my room to go to bed and at 1130ish they just open the door in our room and say we have to go to our «muster station». I understand they have to do safety drills but the whole experience was disorganized and they could of let us know from the beginning. The captain and cruise director could barely speak English so anytime they spoke to us you couldn’t understand them. The second day we went to Freeport and it sucked but I got to hang out on the ship. The third day was Nassau and I loved Nassau and the Atlantis resort has a great water park. When we left free port the ship kept breaking down as well and we had to go back. The whole cruise was just a bad experience and I had thought it was going to be a great experience, especially for what I paid. I was going to go to Disney and Disney would have created a magical experience. Carnival did not. I understand things happen but if the Fantasy is not able to operate properly, then they should of changed ships or made it up to us somehow. I was able to leave priority and they said I had to be at a certain area at 7:45 AM, well I skipped breakfast and woke up early to be there and they didn’t start anything until 8:30 Am and then moved us to another area where other people who were not part of it just butted in line. Again the whole experience was disorganized and not enjoyable. At least they still had alcohol. I would give negative stars if I could. Oh and I said a king bed. They gave me two twin beds. I said I wanted to be sang happy birthday on my birthday, no one said happy birthday.

I believe the Carnival Fantasy is the oldest ship in the fleet. For three or less nights, I do believe the ship is tolerable as it’s not falling apart, but I wouldn’t suggest it for longer trips. I went on the 2 night itinerary (Port Everglades embarkation) after the ship’s 2016 dry dock. I read there were upgrades to bars and eateries during the refurbishment, but there was no evident hotel upgrades made to the rooms. There is extreme noticeable wear on the ship inside and out. It’s small and the layout is difficult to navigate, especially for those for have a hard time walking long distances or climbing stairs. This was my 5^th cruise with Carnival, and I hardly need to complain, but people considering this ship must be warned. My expectations were very low and I think I would have been okay if we stopped in Nassau as planned. However, due to supposed issues with the ship, we were rerouted to Freeport. What was upsetting to the majority on board was that we essentially paid the Nassau cruise fare ($ 300+ per person) to go to the same place as the Grand Celebration which is an express cruise ship from West Palm Beach that runs $ 250 for 2 roundtrip groupons (it was also in dock & sadly looked nicer than our ship). This was the week after my birthday and 1^st wedding anniversary and I definitely need a do over so I don’t remember this experience for years to come.
The room stewards and food/​beverage/​dining staff work so incredibly hard on any ship, and they were a delight to interact with. It’s not their fault if stations were under-​staffed and the fact that dinner took 2 hours to be served the first night or that most food was not prepared properly (undercooked/​overcooked). I solely blame the cruise line for poor planning. This 2 day itinerary was not a usual one for the ship. It seems like they only did it because of the dry dock. My opinion may not matter, but they should have probably not scheduled this if it couldn’t be successfully done. That being said, they did offer a small form of credit to all onboard and that they didn’t have to do so I gave them 2 stars verses 1 star.
Beware of your purchases made in the duty-​free liquor shop on board. Two other parties I was traveling with received the wrong item. Be sure to check the Carnival branded packages that they store your bottles in before you disembark the ship because thereafter, Carnival will blame their 3^rd party vendor’s staff for order and packaging errors. This is what happened when we called about the issue today.
Bottom line: If you are used to cruising with Royal Caribbean and NCL, you must imagine your worst experience and know that it will likely be equivalent to the Carnival Fantasy experience. If I was to choose to sail with Carnival again, it would be on ships 5 years old or less, otherwise, it’s definitely worth spending extra to go with another line. The entire fleet is not bad… the Carnival Breeze was newer, bigger, better and had a superior staff (no surprise). That cruise wasn’t perfect but close, and where ever Matt (cruise director) and Orlando are, you will see the brighter side when things aren’t great. As for Fantasy, I wouldn’t consider it ever again.

Took the cruise to Freeport and Nassau in early January. Wasn’t the best cruise I’ve ever experienced, but still had a good time. Honestly, it was the price that got us on board. Wanted to see some comedy, but the room it was hosted in was too small so we were never able to get a seat. Shore excursions were the best part.

Beyond my mom breaking her ankle and the staff being beyond rude. This was a pretty crappy ship and leaving out of Charleston was HORRIBLE! The food was mediocre at best, the only staff I can say was good was our room stewards, the ship it self while it’s old was clean,

We had a very good time on our recent Carnival Cruise. The service is great, it’s very relaxing and of course unlimited (and quite tasty) food is always a plus. The shows are pretty good too. Be prepared to pay extra cash for anything from Bingo, to drinks, to several games and more.
The biggest criticism I’d have is some disorganization when it comes to embarking and disembarking. Getting through security is one long line after another, same with getting off the ship (even when you get to a port). We even bought the Faster to the Fun pass, which helped us getting on and off at the beginning and end of the cruise, but didn’t help us at all at ports, which was a bummer.
I also went on a couple excursions, and if I had it to do all over again, I would have skipped those and just hung out on the ship and relaxed. I’m not sure the excursions are really good bang for buck.
Overall, though, I’ve never been on a vacation where I felt I got the most value for my money, created such great memories and enjoyed such great service.

Well, the worst part about this ship (and Most ships) is Embarkation and Disembarkation once you get past that nightmare it’s on to Paradise! (the $ 300 – 500 version let’s be realistic here) yes paradise on a budget I absolutely love cruising and fantasy did not let me down. Our room was clean our bed was comfortable and most importantly the shower had hot water.
This ship is one of their older ones but do not let that discourage you it is lovely on the inside. The staff… wonderful! and very helpful. Our sail to the Bahamas was relaxing, entertaining and fulfilling.

The ship is old… Carnival’s oldest in fact, so you wont get some of the new features that are becoming standard like movie theatres and 10 different pools. That being said, with the exception of some seasickness i definitely enjoyed my time on the Carnival Fantasy. The dining room does not enforce the dress code which i found a little irksome. The food however was really great in the dining room. GET UP FOR BREAKFAST. do not order room service. It is a greatly reduced menu that does not do the dining room menu justice. Our dining room steward Ugur was delightful and did everything he could to make our dinners fabulous. The lido deck is standard mall food court fodder but was always perfectly good. Lines were reasonable.
Getting on the ship was not too troublesome however disembarking was a total pain. The process was slow and parking is not cheap in the slightest. Avoid having vehicles you have to pay to park at all costs as it can be rather pricey.
We did not purchase liquor packages on board and admittedly smuggled a great deal of alcohol we should not have been able to bring onboard with us… that being said in future i WILL buy a liquor package as they make excellent drinks on the Fantasy and the prices, while not cheap, are not entirely unreasonable. Example: Their fabulous Pina Colada was only 8.50 and is very large.
The ports of call were fine, Nassau and Freeport. If i can make a recommendation, in freeport, just pay 15.00 and go to the Grand Lucayan resort. You pay 15 a person and use their pools, which are insanely good, and their beach and all facilities, beach chairs, etc, all day. Its the cheapest most beautiful day possible. Also they have beachside bar service… i.e. coconuts full of delicious booze for 10.00 each… it was a good day.
The shipboard entertainment… they were terrible. sorry…but it was worse than community theatre… i know they try hard but the shows they were doing were just so cheesy… and not in a good way.
The cleopatra piano bar became a favorite by the third night on board and the piano player is very charismatic. It is low key and beautiful.
The serenity area on the back of the ship which is 21 and up was wonderful. and yes… carnival did enforce the age restriction here… THANK YOU.
iN GOING CHEAPLY I HAD A CABIN ALL THE WAY FORWARD… The first two portholes on the next to bottom deck… yeah. dont do that… you feel all the motion of the ship and its a bit loud. My recommendation is to be somewhere high and towards the center.
All in all, there are better ships, of course, but for the money you cant beat it.

Best vacation I’ve ever had. The staff is amazing and work harder than I ever have or ever will. Getting on and off the ship is pretty rotten but it’s literally a couple hours in the scope of your entire vacation. Just tell yourself the vacation starts as soon as the safety brief is over and it ends as soon as you close the zipper on your bags.
I firmly believe your expectations decide whether or not you will enjoy a cruise. Don’t expect the free entertainment to be on par with a show that charges $ 45 – 90 per ticket. Don’t expect the live performers to be on par with Ray Charles. Don’t expect the pool to be empty and just for you to use. On the other hand, expect the staff to love to talk to you. Expect the other guests to be more sociable than someone on the street. Expect to have some time to relax (high strung people would say «bored»). And expect to see some beautiful ocean and island paradise locations.
It’s cheaper than an all-​inclusive resort by a long shot and I think it’s more enjoyable. Bring Dramamine, sunscreen, and aloe. Talk to strangers. Relax.

First of all, we love cruises… Our little family enjoys cruising and our 4-​year old always looks forward to «Camp Carnival» — the earlier reference to this ship being the «Dollar General» of cruises is right on !! Camp Carnival was small and dingy and the «teachers» were unfriendly and borderline rude to our son. One even suggested she was happy to see him CRY!!! (What?!?) food in the main dining room was very good — but there’s no sense in choosing anytime dining — if you don’t get there promptly at 5:45 pm, you’re getting a buzzer and will have a 45 – 90 minute wait. The lido deck dining choices were very good, however, the first 2days of our cruise offered limited air conditioning in the actual Lido deck dining area (yes, you read that right) — imagine HOT and sweaty gluttony and a buffet area with luke warm sandwich meats or room temp milk. (Ewwww). Huge PRO: the room was great, balcony was clean and room service was awesome. State room attendant was above and beyond friendly (friendliest encounter we had on the ship). Casino was pretty dated but machines seemed to hit well. The pool area was a joke, honestly I can believe that many people crammed into that pool — stick with the water slides — they were much less crowded and fine for the cool down. Bummer that this ships fleet offers no other alternative dining… Next time, we will pay the upcharge for the Breeze and suffer through a flight to Miami.

We planned this as a family trip and we were quite unimpressed. CONS: the process getting on and off the ships is totally inefficient. Just… ugh. From parking to loading it’s just a messy process.
I have been on other Carnival cruise ships that weren’t quite as… Old and run down. The ship is SMALL (their smallest and oldest), Stains on the sheets, old dingy towels, pool is tiny and overrun with kids, everything is just dated and is in desperate need of updating. Understandably, this is a family cruise so I understand the kids– we had our nephew with us so I do understand it and am fine with it. If the pool was bigger it wouldn’t have been such a cluster. The promenade is old and has very outdated décor. Listening to my in laws talk about their experience on Royal Caribbean made me wish that was our choice. Railings outside are painted and repainted and look terrible. My father in law tried to get us all a balcony room– news flash THEY HAVE NONE. Ladies: BRING CONDITIONER. They only have shampoo and body wash. When we pulled up next to the other ships when we got to the Bahamas our little ship was kind of pathetic.
PROS: we had a couples spa treatment and it was nice. I had scheduled a massage but bc I am 15 weeks pregnant they would not do. So I got a facial instead. I wish they would have massaged my legs a little too but it was nice nonetheless. The staff was very nice and the turn down service was nice… They basically cleaned twice a day… New (dingy) towels, etc. The comedian was funny– their shows are about 30 mins. And it’s definitely an ADULT show. Think twice about sneaking your teenager into the show… They don’t check IDs tho. The poolside and dinner staff were great. They remembered our names/​drinks from day to day.
Overall, I would not cruise Fantasy again or encourage anyone to unless they got a smokin deal. As my father in law quoted, «it was the dollar general of cruises» which I completely agreed with. Hopefully they update soon or retire that sad sad ship.

We had a wonderful time on the Carnival Fantasy, but I give it 3 stars in comparison to other cruises I have been on. If you can get a good deal, then this is a perfect vacation since you can leave directly from Charleston. There were a decent amount of activities and things to do but after 3 days, it can be a little mundane (since we really only cared about sunning and relaxing, we were just fine). It rained while we were in the Bahamas and their big marketplace was closed for renovation but we were able to buy a few trinkets to bring home.
Carnival has a club for kids and they can do all kinds of fun stuff and you can pay a little extra for ‘night owls’ (they can stay until 1am). Since the boat is kind of small (compared to others), I think it is easier to maneuver for kids. We did really like that the boat has a pool and a water slide area with little fountains. Even though the slides area is meant for kids, we also had fun there.
Food was good, there was a decent amount of variety and you can definitely pig out if you like! If you are planning on having a decent amount of alcoholic beverages, I would recommend the Cheers program. It is $ 50/​day (you have to buy it for all days) and you get 15 drinks ($ 10 and under). After looking at the drinks menu, it made sense to get this since most drinks are $ 8 or $ 9 — beers start at $ 5.
The one issue we had on the boat was with some of the staff. The steward skipped our room at times and didn’t take away any trash or straighten up — they only made the beds and changed the towels. We also had several different bartenders that would not crack a smile or barely talk. This all seemed really weird because on other cruises, the staff always goes above and beyond!

This was my first cruise. We ported out from charleston april 17. I was very impressed with how friendly and professional all staff was. Room service was excellent. The food was great. Me and my friends had a wonderful time. Im looking forward with traveling with carnival again

If your fantasy involves the deadly sins of gluttony and sloth, then the Carnival Fantasy is aptly named for you.
Let me begin by saying that I enjoyed my time on the Carnival Fantasy immensely. There were some fantastic shows (I especially enjoyed The Brits, which featured 60s music, along with the requisite psychedelic colors), including nightly comedy; the food was plentiful and varied; and the staff was friendly and accommodating. There were a number of activities, including water slides, mini golf (on, bizarrely, the windiest part of the ship), a gym, a spa, and bars located approximately every 4 – 6 feet. Best of all, there was no cell phone service or free wifi; logging on cost $ 0.75 a minute, which meant that I had a wonderful excuse not to respond to e-​mails for a week. That feature alone was well worth the cost of the cruise.
Now, given the fantastic ratio of food to wifi on this ship, you may be wondering why I only rated it a three. I may be a bit of a cruise snob, but I found that the Fantasy was slightly less impressive than the other cruises I have been on. The Fantasy is the oldest and one of the smallest ships in the Carnival line, and, like every older ship, the Fantasy just felt slightly dirtier and more run-​down than a newer ship. The entertainment seemed slightly less varied than what I have encountered on other ships, and food was slightly less impressive. There were not many balcony rooms, and there did not seem to be enough chairs available on the deck. I had a fantastic time; I just was not quite as impressed by this cruise as by others.
Insider tip that I only figured out on day 3: While your cruise may not appear to be gluten-​free-​friendly, this is only an illusion, created by the fact that the cruise in no way advertises that, for example, all their pizzas and even sandwiches can be prepared gluten-​free (not well, but gluten-​free nonetheless). This discovery was positive for my joy levels, and negative for my waist levels. If you are someone who cannot eat gluten, let your server at your nightly dinner know, and they will make appropriate accommodations (or at least do their darndest; one night, my «gluten-​free» meal appeared to differ from my friend’s only by the removal of a broccoli floret – it would appear that the Fantasy’s understanding of gluten still requires some refining).

This was my first cruise and after reading all the reviews I was getting scared. smelling like crap, awfull food, rude people, lines for everything, old outdated ship. All of which I found to be untrue, it was a very pretty high class ship everything was clean no awfull smells at all and smoke smell was only around the casino. There was so much to do in fact that it was hard to make time to do it all, your room attendant and dinning servers call you by name everyone speaks no one was ever rude so I think some people just like to complain and
Just can’t be happy with anything because me and my wife had a blast, best vacation we ever took

This was my first cruise and will not be in a hurry to go on another. It seemed like I spent a lot of time waiting in line for drinks and food. I would agree with some of the other comments regarding food quality. I read other reviews that raved about how great the food was and expected more. The food was mostly cafeteria food except for the filet mignon which required an additional $ 20 charge. I was under the impression that pizza was available 24hrs however, individual pizzas were made to order and I found myself once again waiting in line.
The pool was very small and most of the time, people were squeezing shoulder to shoulder to put their feet in the water. We stayed on the ship the morning of the first day in port and found this was the only time you could actually use it without being crowded into a small space. The water park was fun and had a lot of room and plenty of seating. Except for the first day at sea, it seemed only one bar at the pool was open at any given time.
The Cheers drink package was worth it for me as was the private balcony in our suite. It was a nice get away from the waiting in line.
The parking was very organized and we were quickly shuttled to embarkation, but disembarking was not so much. We are not seasoned cruisers, but if told to report to an area for disembarking at a certain time, I expect to be ready to leave at or near the time specified. However, we were told to report to an auditorium and wait. We finally spoke to someone wearing an «Ask Me» shirt when we could expect to leave and he told brought us to the line and we exited the boat shortly after. If we did not ask, we would have been there for quite a while. We found out later that others waited for hours to get off. I expected the process to be a little more organized. Once shuttled to the garage, you were on your own to find your bags and drag them to the parking lot a block away.

Great ship! We had a lot of fun. The games, shows, comedians, and food was awesome. Ice cream ²⁴⁄₇ is pretty awesome too. I also blew a lot of money at the casino but it was fun! My only compliant would be about the shuttle we took the parking garage when we returned. The workers were rude and tossed out luggage in and out of the container like it was trash. Very unprofessional. I don’t think they were carnival employees but carnival should monitor them since they are transporting carnival customers. I would have taken my own luggage if I knew that’s how they were going to handle it.

Very nice cruise it ended so soon but there is unlimited pizz and ice creams and it was amazing. The water slides crew and dinner were very good

Had a great 7 day cruise, every one on the ship was very nice. The food was ok could have been better, one day I got fish was cooked on outside but raw on inside. Nassau, grand Turk, was nice. Couldnt go to half moon because of the weather. Will do this trip again

Awesome little ship! The staff was incredible on board and in port. My only complaint, this ship is a little tall and not quite wide enough so if you’re used to sailing on bigger ships you’ll be able to feel this one rocking quite a bit. Pack a motion sickness relief aide of your choosing just in case.
But for the cost this little ship is AWESOME!

I never realized you could review a cruise ship on here, but I guess that’s cool :).
Carnival Fantasy is a pretty small cruise ship, and the cruises mostly go to the Bahamas. Every so often, they hit Key West or Bermuda, though. Locally, it’s a good option for a vacation, as they are 5 – 7 days in length.
The ship itself is pretty no-​frills and basic– you’ve got your pool, hot tub, a nice adult area (serenity deck), waterslide, and buffet/​dining room. No rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, or fancy restaurants.
I do wish we could get some bigger ships here in Charleston or possibly another line as well, that way there would be more options of places to go. The cruise is fun, but once you’ve been, it’s about the same the next time you go, not much changes from year to year. Still, the staff is great and you can get some good deals on the cruises. If you haven’t been on a cruise, this is a relatively cheap, easy vacation… especially if you live in Charleston and can get a friend to drive you to the port to save the parking fees.
Also, if you want to save money, and you’re from out of town, find a hotel that does park and cruise specials. Anyone can also take their own soda on board, so I suggest stopping at the East Bay Harris Teeter, as that’s the closest grocery store to the port. Soda is a lot cheaper there than on the ship!