Our Fascination Anniversary / Spring Break Get Away (with pics) - 3/26/16

[Jamman]

The Water Works, Deck 11 aft. You can see that a little bit of rain and the cool temperatures didn’t bother these kids…..

The Kiddie slides…..

The Racing slides…..

The Twister slide…..

Moving down to Deck 9, Promenade Deck, this is the Puttin’ on the Ritz Lounge, which is also the Punchliner’s Comedy Club. It’s also our Muster Station “E”. More on that later…..

This is the seating area by the Beverly Hills Bar, Deck 9 aft…..

To be continued……

 

[Jamman]

Looking forward on the Deck 9 Promenade which is also known as Hollywood Boulevard…..

The Fascination Gift Shop, Deck 9 aft.....

The Diamonds are Forever Dance Club…..

At the Bogart’s Coffee Shop there are two internet stations with chairs. Here I am setting up our account for the cruise…..

Here is the internet plans information…..

This is the Passage to India Lounge. This is where Karaoke took place just about every night…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

Here is the place I spent quite a bit of time in, the Casino Royale…..

Looking at the Grand Spectrum Atrium from the Promenade Deck…..

Looking down at the Atrium Bar on Deck 7…..

Here is the entrance to Club O2 for 15 to 17 year olds, located in the Atrium, Deck 9…..

This is Special Occasions, the place where you can pick up flowers or candy……

At this point Patti decided to head back to the cabin to begin unpacking, and I made my way up to the Lido Bar for a few more beers. The plan is for me to meet Patti back at the cabin just before the muster drill.

To be continued.....

 

[Jamman]

When I last left you, Patti was going back to the cabin to unpack, and I was going up to the Lido Bar for an hour or so, until it was time for the muster drill. I would then go back to the cabin to meet up with Patti, and wait for the alarm to sound. What happens next was the worst muster drill in my 45 cruise history, over six cruise lines. It really bothered me that this happened because of the make-up of my fellow passengers. Let me try to explain.

Sitting at the Lido Bar talking to, and watching other passengers as they come up and order drinks, you can learn a lot about the people you are sailing with. Believe me when I tell you that almost everyone had a blue card, and if not blue, they had a red card. Now having a blue card means you are a first time cruiser on Carnival. It doesn’t mean you have never cruised before, but not on Carnival. A red card means you have cruised at least once on Carnival, but not that many times. I did not see that many gold or platinum cards at all, and I held the only white card on the ship as a diamond. So all in all, it appeared to me that this was a ship with mostly inexperienced Carnival cruisers. This is to be expected during these spring break cruises, as veteran cruisers avoid these like the plague if they can. Also, out of the about 2,600 passengers on board, about 1,000 of them were under the age of eighteen.

The announcement in the Fun Times word for word as it was printed said this: IMPORTANT: Today at approximately 3:15pm will be our Mandatory Safety Briefing. When the signal sounds, please go to your assigned muster station as printed on your Sail & Sign Card.

Patti and I were sitting in the cabin, waiting for the alarm to sound. At about 3:25 our stateroom steward Raj, knocked on our door, and said that the muster drill had started. Funny, I hadn’t heard the alarm, and it is unmistakable. No problem, we made our way up two flights of stairs to the Promenade Deck, and into the Puttin’ on the Ritz Lounge, which is our Muster Station “E”.

When we arrived the lounge was full, and we wound up standing in the back. Had we really not heard the alarm? After standing there for ten minutes, the alarm sounded. What the heck!! Then it dawned on me why the lounge was already full when we got there. All the newbies read in the Fun Times that the muster drill was at 3:15, so they just went there at that time. Good for them, since I believed that the muster drill would be over that much quicker. Boy was I wrong.

We stood there for over half an hour, and nothing was heard from the bridge. The natives were getting restless, and the crew members in charge of our muster station kept saying that we will hear something in five minutes, five minutes, five minutes. Some of the people who were standing in the back sat down on the floor, and were admonished by the crew. Finally, Cruise Director Felipe came on and read the first part of the drill, up to the crew members demonstrating how to put on the life jackets. By this time many people were not paying attention.

On the Fantasy Class ships, the second part of the muster drill is when you are led up one deck to Deck 10, where you would actually go to board your assigned lifeboats. I have to say that the crew members did a very good job in controlling the passengers during the exodus from the lounge to upstairs, but once up there chaos ensued.

The crew was not doing a very good job in getting people to line up properly so the drill could continue. People were sitting down on the deck, at the tables, leaning over the railing. You could tell that many of the passengers were done. We stood up there for another fifteen minutes or so without hearing another announcement. Meanwhile, the ship had begun to sail.

Then the crew members said that the drill was over. I never heard that announcement! To top it off, they skipped the spiel where they tell you “If this were an actual emergency this is where you will board your lifeboat, women and children first, the lifeboats are commanded by able bodied seaman, unsinkable even when flooded, blah, blah blah”. None of that was said at all. Patti and I just looked at each other and said “pray that nothing happens, because not many people will know what to do!” We really said something else, but the mods wouldn't like it! In summary, that whole mess took over an hour.

Patti told me that she wasn’t feeling well, and she was going to go back to the cabin to rest. Actually she wasn’t feeling too great before the muster drill, and that circus just did her in. It would be my job to take pictures of our sail away. I hope I made Patti proud!

As I mentioned before, the ship sailed before the muster drill was over. We are now out far enough so that the ship can spin around and head down the St.John's River, then out to sea……

From Deck 11 aft I am looking down on the Serenity area and it’s two hot tubs…..

We will be heading out that way, and be going under the Dames Point Bridge…..

To be continued……

 

[Jamman]

All the way aft on Deck 10 are two good vantage points to watch the sail away from…..

Here is a shot of a nearby power plant……

The Fascination is now almost completely turned around…..

Here are a couple more views of the Water Works…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

That’s Jacksonville off in the distance…..

The ship is starting to move forward…..

We are now sailing past Jaxport……

That is where we boarded the ship…..

We are heading towards the Dames Point Bridge…..

We are leaving Jaxport behind. See you in five days!!

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

Here are a few shots as we were approaching the Dames Point Bridge…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

We are sailing under the Dames Point Bridge…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

We are leaving the Dames Point Bridge behind…..

I wanted to make my way to the front of the ship to get some pictures of us sailing down the St. John’s River. On the way I saw quite a few people line dancing on the Lido Deck by the Lido Stage…..

All the way forward on Deck11, on either side, you can access the stairs that lead you to the viewing area on top of the bridge……

There’s a great view from up here…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

Here’s a view looking aft from the port side bridge wing…..

You can also reach the front of the ship on Deck 14 by the Sports Park…..

Here’s a view of the ship’s bell…..

We are sailing down the St. John’s River towards the Atlantic Ocean…..

There are some beautiful homes along the shore on the starboard side…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

Looking aft from the starboard side bridge wing…..

Check out all these lovely homes along the St. John’s River…..

A few homeowners stepped outside to wave to us as we passed by…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

Here’s another look at my fellow passengers above the bridge…..

Here are some more pictures of homes that we could only dream of owning…..

Nothing like a little party on your own private dock…..

Looking over to the port side there are even more gorgeous homes…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

More beautiful homes off the port bow…..

These Verandah balconies are not that private…..

I have time for a quick beer break at the Port Side Lido Bar…..

We’re getting closer to the open ocean…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

We are almost out to sea…..

Here are a few views of the beach as we pass by…..

We are approaching the end of the jetty…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

The Pilot Boat comes alongside to pick up the Pilot…..

This is the very end of the jetty…..

We are now officially out at sea…..

After we were out at sea I went back to the cabin to check on Patti. She wasn’t up to having dinner, and just wanted to stay in the cabin and get some rest. She was disappointed about not being up to our anniversary dinner.

I found our room steward Raj, and explained to him that Patti didn’t want to be disturbed, and that all we needed from him were some more towels and tomorrow’s Fun Times. Raj immediately got those items for me, and told me if we needed anything else to get in touch with him.

Not feeling like going to the dining room without Patti, I made my way up to the Coconut Grove for a Lido dinner. I had the meat lasagna, and also some prime rib with a baked potato. It wasn’t bad at all.

I made my way down to the Casino Royale, and played blackjack for a few hours, winning $150. But even playing at a $10 table, they only paid 6 to 5 for a blackjack. Man, are they getting greedy!! Later on during the cruise they opened a $15 table, and they paid 3 to 2 for a blackjack. Never did see a $25 table.

Afterwards, I caught the 10:45 adult comedy show starring Dan Chopin. He was alright, but I’ve seen better.

After the show I went to check on Patti, and she was resting comfortably. I decided to call it a night and get some sleep myself. It was great to be at sea once again!

Coming up next: A Happy Easter Day at Sea!!

 

[Jamman]

Happy Easter, and welcome to our first fun day at sea……

We were up at 7am, and from the bow camera view on the television, we could see that the seas were fairly calm, and that it was still cloudy outside.
One of the things that we almost always do on a sea day is go to the Sea Day Brunch. On the Fascination it is served in the Sensation Dining Room from 8:30am until 1pm. Patti was feeling a bit better this morning, and she was extremely hungry, so we made our way to the Sensation Dining Room at 8:30 when it opened.

There wasn’t any line when we got there, and we were seated fairly quickly at a table for two. The first thing that they serve you is this yummy basket of breads…..

Here are Patti and I at the Sea Day Brunch…..

I hadn’t noticed, but as we were led to our table, Patti recognized the person that was leading us as a waiter that we had on another cruise. Sure enough, it was Laurean, who was one of our waiters on our Liberty cruise almost two years ago. He stopped by to chat with us for a while……

Here’s a picture taken on that Liberty cruise. Here’s our son Ryan flanked by Maribel on the left, and Laurean on the right…..

He even remembered that I ordered two Angry Orchard’s at dinner each night. How does somebody remember something like that?

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

The Sea Day Brunch was awesome as usual. I had the huevos rancheros with a side of corned beef hash……

Patti had a cheese omelet with turkey bacon, and a side of mac and cheese…..

With my free drink coupon I ordered up a watermelon bellini. Patti wasn’t quite up to drinking just yet…..

At the entrance of the dining room, there is a model of the Sensation…..

A view of the atrium from the entrance of the Sensation Dining Room…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

Looking down, it seems that the Atrium Bar is pretty deserted…..

At this point Patti said that she wanted to do a little shopping and then go play bingo, so I took the camera and began taking some pictures. I took a peek into the Palace Theater, and saw our Cruise Director Felipe (in the blue shirt),on stage doing The Morning Show…..

The Fun Shops are now open for business…..

Is that Patti I see in there?

How sweet! Patti has done some shopping for me!!

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

couple of shots of the internet café on Empress Deck 7 in the Lobby…..

Looking all the way up to the skylight…..

I made my way up to the highest deck on the ship which is the Sun Deck 14. Looking over the side of the ship, I could see that the seas were fairly smooth…..

This is the City Sports Park, forward on the Sun Deck…..

This is where you will find the Mini Golf Course…..

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman]

Here’s another shot of the Mini Golf Course…..

If you go all the way to the front of the Sun Deck, there are doors on either side that will lead you onto the walkway. This is a shot looking down at the bow from that walkway…..

This is the starboard side bridge wing……

And this is the port side bridge wing…..

Here are a couple more pictures of the Mini Golf Course…..

To be continued…..