We arrived at the port at about 10:30 a.m. on Monday morning and were able to find a good spot in the parking garage right at the port. The line was not very long to go through security and they had already started letting people on board and so we didn't have to wait long to board. Overall, the process went quite smoothly.
The ship is an older ship but it had just been in dry dock in January so it had been well updated including adding two Carnival staples, Guy's Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana Cantina, both of which are great food options on Carnival ships.
Our room, M212, was small (but we expected that). The weirdest thing was on the far wall, they had a cutout and curtains, as if there should be a window there.
There were ample public areas, which was important since this ship has almost no balconies so most people would not be spending much time in their rooms.
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| The Cats Lounge |
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| Grand Spectrum (Atrium) |
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| Cleopatra's Piano Bar |
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| Universe Main Show Lounge |
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| Universe Main Show Lounge |
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| The Forum (where the Punchliner Comedy Shows were) |
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| Serenity (adults only) Retreat |
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| Carnival Waterworks |
We spent most of our days sitting up on deck (more me than Paul) or sitting in lounges reading and people watching. But the last at sea day we managed to make it to a towel folding seminar, an ice carving demonstration, and a martini tasting, all staples for me on cruises.
We never got off the boat for either port. This was our third time visiting Cozumel, Mexico. The Symphony of the Seas (world's largest cruise ship), Carnival Victory, and Enchantment of the Seas were also in port this day. We were parked at the farthest pier which would have required a taxi to get into town.
Progreso, Mexico (in the Yucatan peninsula) was a new port for us and a unique one. The waters are so shallow, that they built out a 5 mile pier. This required all passengers to be shuttled by bus to land, which didn't sound relaxing at all (the whole point of this cruise). Plus I'm not sure there was all that much to see once you arrived on land. We were the only ship in port this day.
A few observations of the Carnival Fantasy:
- There were rarely lines anywhere and lots of public space so the ship never felt crowded.
- The food in the main dining room was pretty good and it was a nice change of pace sitting with other couples.
- The late dining time, although later than we would like and so we were often hungry in the early evening, was nice in that we didn't have to rush our daytime activities.
- The casino bar is outside of the casino and completely in the open and so smoke from smokers at that bar spread throughout the entire promenade deck which is where most of the lounges are.
- The martini bar (on any cruise ship) never opens early enough.
- Food variety at lunch was terrible, and near impossible for anyone with any food allergies.
- You could order a pizza to be delivered to any area of the ship (except the comedy lounge).
- One of the towels Carnival provided was labeled, "Holiday Inn"
- They served cracker jacks for dessert one night but without the prize ;(
Saturday came too quick, as the end often does. We were up early hoping to beat the rush at the breakfast buffet. And it is good we got up early because we were about 45-60 minutes ahead of schedule for debarkation. We chose to walk off with all of our luggage and were pulling out of the parking garage shortly after 8:30 a.m. We were home before 1:00 p.m. Here are the stats from our drive home.
Miles - 257.3
Driving time - 3 hours 42 minutes
Average 26.9 mpg
Weather - upper 80s and sunny
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