Ahoy Everyone!! Welcome to our photo review of our anniversary / spring break getaway aboard the Carnival Fascination, a five day cruise from Jacksonville to Freeport and Nassau.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jeff “Jamman” Maskall, and I am a cruise addict! On board with me is my lovely wife Patti, who is the primary photographer. Together we love doing these photo reviews, as it helps us re-live our cruises, and though time consuming, they are a lot of fun to do. We try to make you feel that you are onboard the ship with us, and hope these reviews help you decide if you want to cruise on this ship, or visit the ports of call. Please feel free to comment or ask questions. So without any further ado, let’s get this party started!
After the holidays were over, we started to get the cruising bug again. After all, it had been over four months since we were on the Breeze, and it would be another eight months until we boarded the Sunshine. Totally unacceptable!! With Patti being a teacher, we are locked into cruising during peak times, so the first opportunity to book would be during spring break. Air fares during this time are through the roof, so we would need to drive to whichever port we chose to sail from. To keep it as cheap as possible we would limit ourselves to a five day cruise, and book an inside cabin.
We would have to sail sometime during Easter weekend, so we narrowed it down to the Ecstasy from Charleston, or our old friend the Fascination from Jacksonville. Both ships left on the same day, and went to the same ports, and sadly neither one would be stopping at Half Moon Cay this week. Bummer! We chose the Fascination because it was $200 cheaper per person than the Ecstasy. Couldn’t figure that one out, but no matter, we love the Fascination, and since it will be leaving Jacksonville for San Juan in a couple of weeks, what better way to say goodbye to her for now.
Our son Ryan, who usually cruises with us, would have to sit this one out, as his spring break didn’t match up with Patti’s. He and his uncanny luck at bingo and in the casino will be missed!!
Now before we get started with the pictures, I need to give you a quick update, which will affect how we cruise from now going forward. As of July 1st, after thirty-two years as a Special Education teacher, Patti is going to be retiring. Yippee!!! After this cruise we no longer have to book during peak times, and it opens up a multitude of new and cheaper options for us.
First, I cancelled our August cruises for both this year, and next year. I rebooked us on the Sunshine for this September, a seven day New England / Canada cruise that Patti has always wanted to do, but never could, due to the school year starting.
Then we booked a fourteen day Journeys repositioning cruise on the Pride for next February, for less money than it would of cost us to cruise in August! You gotta love it!!
So now let’s fast forward to Thursday March 24th, two days prior to the cruise. Since we are going to drive down to Jacksonville, we will be leaving home at nine this evening. I do the bulk of the driving, and I like leaving at night to avoid driving through Baltimore and Washington DC during rush hours.
The van is packed and ready to go…..
Patti and I are ready to head out the front door…..
Ryan and Chloe will stay home and hold down the fort…..
Patti is not a fan of driving great distances. If you remember from some of my other reviews, Patti will tolerate the drive down, but has started flying home. Not happening this time, so to keep her happy, I promised her that we would stop at Cracker Barrel on the way down, and on the way back. She loves Cracker Barrel…..
After 14 hours, we have arrived at our destination, Country Inn and Suites, in Kingsland, Georgia. It is located off exit 3 on I-95, which is just a couple of minutes from the Florida border, and about a half hour from Jaxport, where we will board the Fascination. The hotel has been re-modeled inside and out since our last visit here two years ago…..
Though I requested early check-in when I booked, our room wasn’t ready yet, but after a very short wait we were given room 208, which was right upstairs from the lobby on the second floor. It was a very convenient location. Here is room 208…..
To be continued…..
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jeff “Jamman” Maskall, and I am a cruise addict! On board with me is my lovely wife Patti, who is the primary photographer. Together we love doing these photo reviews, as it helps us re-live our cruises, and though time consuming, they are a lot of fun to do. We try to make you feel that you are onboard the ship with us, and hope these reviews help you decide if you want to cruise on this ship, or visit the ports of call. Please feel free to comment or ask questions. So without any further ado, let’s get this party started!
After the holidays were over, we started to get the cruising bug again. After all, it had been over four months since we were on the Breeze, and it would be another eight months until we boarded the Sunshine. Totally unacceptable!! With Patti being a teacher, we are locked into cruising during peak times, so the first opportunity to book would be during spring break. Air fares during this time are through the roof, so we would need to drive to whichever port we chose to sail from. To keep it as cheap as possible we would limit ourselves to a five day cruise, and book an inside cabin.
We would have to sail sometime during Easter weekend, so we narrowed it down to the Ecstasy from Charleston, or our old friend the Fascination from Jacksonville. Both ships left on the same day, and went to the same ports, and sadly neither one would be stopping at Half Moon Cay this week. Bummer! We chose the Fascination because it was $200 cheaper per person than the Ecstasy. Couldn’t figure that one out, but no matter, we love the Fascination, and since it will be leaving Jacksonville for San Juan in a couple of weeks, what better way to say goodbye to her for now.
Our son Ryan, who usually cruises with us, would have to sit this one out, as his spring break didn’t match up with Patti’s. He and his uncanny luck at bingo and in the casino will be missed!!
Now before we get started with the pictures, I need to give you a quick update, which will affect how we cruise from now going forward. As of July 1st, after thirty-two years as a Special Education teacher, Patti is going to be retiring. Yippee!!! After this cruise we no longer have to book during peak times, and it opens up a multitude of new and cheaper options for us.
First, I cancelled our August cruises for both this year, and next year. I rebooked us on the Sunshine for this September, a seven day New England / Canada cruise that Patti has always wanted to do, but never could, due to the school year starting.
Then we booked a fourteen day Journeys repositioning cruise on the Pride for next February, for less money than it would of cost us to cruise in August! You gotta love it!!
So now let’s fast forward to Thursday March 24th, two days prior to the cruise. Since we are going to drive down to Jacksonville, we will be leaving home at nine this evening. I do the bulk of the driving, and I like leaving at night to avoid driving through Baltimore and Washington DC during rush hours.
The van is packed and ready to go…..
Patti and I are ready to head out the front door…..
Ryan and Chloe will stay home and hold down the fort…..
Patti is not a fan of driving great distances. If you remember from some of my other reviews, Patti will tolerate the drive down, but has started flying home. Not happening this time, so to keep her happy, I promised her that we would stop at Cracker Barrel on the way down, and on the way back. She loves Cracker Barrel…..
After 14 hours, we have arrived at our destination, Country Inn and Suites, in Kingsland, Georgia. It is located off exit 3 on I-95, which is just a couple of minutes from the Florida border, and about a half hour from Jaxport, where we will board the Fascination. The hotel has been re-modeled inside and out since our last visit here two years ago…..
Though I requested early check-in when I booked, our room wasn’t ready yet, but after a very short wait we were given room 208, which was right upstairs from the lobby on the second floor. It was a very convenient location. Here is room 208…..
To be continued…..