Cruising on the Carnival Fantasy

Prologue
     In the week before we left for the cruise, my Mother (who was visiting me in Louisville) and I drove up to Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit my sister Terre. We arrived the day before Father's Day which was nice because her son had come home for the weekend and cooked dinner for all of us. My Mother and I were working on making a dress for me and we had a pattern and fabric for a second dress. My Mother was rather obsessed with getting the dresses done. We finished the first one and got a good start on the second one. I lent the finished dress to Terre to wear for formal night on the cruise.
     Terre was working every day, trying to get as many hours as she could before leaving on vacation. She is part owner in a business that provides sign language services for the deaf. She did take time out to go with us for a manicure and pedicure. Terre opted for nails decorated with flowers and palm trees.
     The Thursday before the cruise we drove back to Louisville. My sister Mary lives in Louisville too and was going on the cruise as well. All three of my sisters Terre, Mary and Kathy went on the cruise as well as our niece, Hannah, and our sister-in-law, Tina (who is Hannah's mother). The cruise was Hannah's high school graduation present.
    While driving back we saw a cloud formation that looked strikingly like our cruise ship. The cloud had diminished in size somewhat by the time we got the camera out and maneuvered from behind a semi. It still looks like a ship I think. See what you think:

We took this as a good omen for our trip.

     
Day 1
     We left Louisville at 3:20 AM on Friday, June 25th, headed for Charleston, South Carolina, the departure port for our cruise. There were four of us riding in my big Ford Custom Van. Terre sat up front with me while Mary and my Mother slept. We listened to the Ken Burn's audio CD on the life of Mark Twain. Around 7 AM we were coming into Knoxville, Tennessee and stopped for breakfast at a restaurant called the Golden Girls. As we were leaving, a van with Wisconsin license plates pulled in. My Mother, being a life long Wisconsinite, could not help but start a conversation with them. We had a nice talk although Mother could not ascertain if we had any mutual acquaintances.
    Our trip was uneventful and pleasant. Terre and I had prepared clipboards with games attached that included Scattergories, Boggle, crosswords, puzzles, etc. Terre had also included travel bingo where you looked for things one would see along a highway like trucks, barns, cows, police and so on. We also looked for license plates to see how many we could check off on the trip. We had many ways to pass the time.

    We arrived in Charleston around 4 PM and checked into the Best Western Downtown. Our other three companions were flying down from Wisconsin and were originally expected in around the same time. They called us to tell us they had a delay. They did not arrive until nearly 7 PM. My sister Kathy was talking to a man on the plane who told her about a restaurant called the Buccaneer so we decided to go there for dinner. It was delicious!
    When we got back to the hotel, we were treated to a fireworks show. I think it was from a baseball park which was just down the road from the hotel.

    The next morning we took the Grayline tour of Charleston from the Visitor Center. The tour traversed the historic area of Charleston so we could see the quaint streets, architecture and historic sites of the city. We stopped on the famous Battery and were allowed to get out and walk around. From there we could see Fort Sumter in the harbor and could walk through the park and admire the beautiful homes of Charleston.

    It was a bit of an adventure getting to the ship. We had booked a shuttle from the hotel but it left 2-1/2 hours before boarding started (even though the pier was less than 2 miles from the hotel) which would have meant missing the Grayline tour. We opted to get ourselves to the pier which meant me dropping everyone off, returning to the hotel to park the van and taking a taxi back to the pier. Once at the pier, we had to take a shuttle to the terminal building because the parking/drop off area was a distance away. Inside the terminal building we had to go through a security checkpoint before actually checking in and boarding the ship. Even though I had checked my main suitcase, I had a large sail bag, the game bag and my Mother's carry on bag. I thought I was so smart bringing a cart to carry everything. It turned out to be a hassle because I had to unload/load it several times.

     On the ship, our rooms were ready and we were able to go directly there, freshen up and relax before the mandatory life boat drill. Then we stood on deck as the ship sailed out of Charleston harbor. We got close views of the aircraft carrier Yorktown which is now a museum and of Fort Sumter (pictured, left) which is the site of the first fighting in the Civil War and is a National Historic Site.

We also passed close to a container ship and several pleasure craft. We saw some dolphins cavorting around the bow of the ship while we were still in Charleston harbor (no pictures, though.) They were the only dolphins we saw the entire trip.

    That night we ate our first dinner in the dinning room. Dinner was to be one of our favorite parts of the cruise mostly due to our wait staff, Alma and Maynard. They made dinner so much fun! Every night they sang and danced for us and they sang for my niece for her graduation and for my sister-in-law who had a birthday. A large number of the staff on the Fantasy were Filipino including our waiters. Because of the size of our group, we had a table all to ourselves. The food was excellent at every meal (only Tina had complaints).

    The ship was very nice, especially considering it was 20 years old. Carnival had done a complete remodel a couple of years ago and they did a very nice job. The bathroom and shower were generous by cruise ship standards. We had a flat screen TV, three closets, a desk and bank of drawers. Between our group we had three rooms.

My Mother and I were in a standard inside room, Tina and Hannah (pictured) had an inside inside room that was oriented length wise along a corridor that opened from the elevator lobby. One of their beds folded down from the wall. My sisters were sharing a room that was a little longer than the room I had with three beds arranged in a u-pattern. Because all the rooms were different classes, they were far apart but on the same deck. My mother and I were near the forward elevators and the atrium lobby, my niece and her mother were near the mid-ship elevators and my sisters were by the aft elevators.

Day 2
     This was a sea day (in other words, we were sailing all day and made no stops). Kathy, who is highly subject to motion sickness, was doing fine without any drugs or aids. I always wear an accu-pressure wristband (I don't usually get seasick but I don't want to take chances). However my niece, who was on her first cruise, was a little out of sorts. So we were buying her ginger ales. After a few days, she was doing fine.
     I got up early (@7) and used my walkie to find anyone  in our group who was also out and about. The only one up was Tina (handy things, those walkies, funny thing, though, she quit using her walkie after that). She'd been up since 5 AM. The two of us made a full tour of the ship so I got oriented as to what there was to do and where everything is located. We started to find our "spots", that is, the places where we liked to hang out.
My Mother found her spot along the Via Marina which is an indoor walkway along one side of the ship that goes from the forward elevators to the aft elevators. There are seating areas along the windows bordered by a colonnaded walkway with shops, bars and the casino along the interior. Mom liked this as she could sit in a window seat with her feet up.

There were lots of lounge chairs and tables so it was convenient for game playing. The entertainment staff, Luke and Amanda, hosted trivia games in this area and we became regulars, winning 9 trophies between us, the coveted "ship on a stick". (I got 3 of them.) That's Amanda giving a trophy to Kathy. We had an especially good time with Luke who liked to banter with us and tell us all kinds of outrageous stories.

Mary, the only smoker in our group, found her spot on an outdoor deck just off the back of the Windows On The Sea, the buffet restaurant. This spot, right at the back of the ship, was great for watching the sunset, passing ships and an occasional glimpse of land. It was also conveniently located near the 24-hour pizza buffet and a bar. No wonder it became our nighttime hang out.

Our other favorite spot was the library which was located off the atrium. The atrium was multi-story, circular shaped and glass domed with glass elevators that went to the top of the ship. There is a bar and stage at the bottom of the atrium so we had music or dancing of some sort every evening.

This made the library noisy (for a library) but it was right next to our dining room so it was a great place to meet before dinner and wait until the crowd died down before being seated.  Speaking of crowds, even though the ship was full, it was rare to have to wait in line for anything. The ship did not feel crowded at all.

One weird thing about the library was that the bookshelves and game cupboards were only open 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon. It was rather inconvenient to pick up a book or play an impromptu game. Good thing we brought our own games as we had a travel Scrabble as well as our clipboards. The library also hosted some scrapbooking sessions which Hannah, Mary and Terre  enjoyed.

     This was the night that the dining room was designated as "elegant" meaning they wanted everyone to dress up. We all wore dresses or skirts so we went to the atrium to have photos made by the ship's photographer. They didn't turn out very well. With seven people it seemed someone was always out of position or looking away or had a stupid expression on their face. So we don't have a picture of us all dressed up. We did have a party for my niece at dinner. We ordered a special cake and everyone sang to her to congratulate her for graduating high school.

Day 3

    This was the day we stopped at Key West, Florida. I was especially excited because it's one of my favorite places to go although I had never come in on a cruise ship before. If you've been to Key West you know how the cruise ships that are docked at Mallory Square just tower over the town. Well the first disappointment of the day is that we were not docked at Mallory Square. Instead we were docked at a naval base and had to ride a shuttle into town. Just a small inconvenience.

The second disappointment was that our group was very slow in leaving so it was after 10:00 by the time we got off the shuttle at Mallory Square. We had prepurchased tickets for the Old Town Trolley which runs all around the island and makes 12 stops with unlimited on/off. My Mother had been to Key West before (with my husband and me) so she opted to stay on board the ship. The other six of us waited for the 10:30 trolley and off we went.

    When we got to the Hemingway House, four of us got off (Tina and Hannah opting to stay on the trolley). Kathy, Terre and I took the house tour while Mary waited for us. Unfortunately there was a power outage so there was a delay in starting the tour. The third disappointment of the day was that it was very hot in Key West. Their normal temps for June are in the 80's and there is usually a nice breeze off the ocean. Like most of the country however, they were suffering from higher than normal temps and little or no breeze. I don't know if that is why the power was out but none of the fans in the house were working. We were also in a big group so sometimes we were stuck in the prior room and couldn't hear everything that was said. Even so, I think Kathy and Terre enjoyed the tour. The house is a great example of Key West architecture and the guides have many stories to tell.

We especially enjoyed all the polydactyl (6-toed) cats. They are descendants of the cats that Ernest's family had when they lived in the house. Ernest took to naming the cats after celebrities, a tradition that continues on to this day. This is a picture of Greta Garbo. 

Our next stopping point was the Southernmost Point. We had a photo taken of us with the buoy but we also enjoyed walking around the area which is more residential (and a little less hot). We stopped at the butterfly conservatory but didn't have time to take the tour. The gift shop had some really nice items in it.
    The last disappointment of the day was that we did not have enough time to eat lunch at Sloppy Joe's (it was too hot to walk there anyway). So we rode the trolley back to Mallory Square.

We were eating conch fritters purchased from a sidewalk vendor (not impressed) when Terre noticed a web cam. She called her son and Mary called her daughter so they could look us up on the web. We stood waving at them and talking to them on the cell phone.
Then we all got terribly home sick.

Here's what my nephew saw on the webcam.

    We hooked back up with Hannah and Tina to do a little shopping before heading back to the ship. I took a really cute picture of Hannah on the wharf (it was her idea).

Day 4

    This day we made our first stop in the Bahamas at Freeport. Again we woke to a disappointment as all the shore excursions on boats were cancelled due to rough seas. Four of us had signed up to take the glass bottom boat tour. The other three (Mom, Kathy and Mary) were signed up for a bus tour to the Garden of the Groves and shopping at Port Lucaya. They really enjoyed the gardens and brought back some great pictures.

Right off the dock was a shopping area with a straw market so the four of us headed there. It was a very nice market. Terre bought a hat, I bought an embroidered bag and Tina and Hannah bought jewelry, fans and gifts for the folks back home. Again the weather was very hot with no breeze to be had. Terre and I thought about taking a taxi tour or at least going into town but we noticed that the taxis were not air conditioned so in the end we just headed back to the ship.

This gave us a great advantage for the afternoon's trivia games because there were so few people playing (that's why we won so many trophies.)

Day 5
      We made our other stop in the Bahamas, at Nassau, the capital. There were several cruise ships in port (six by the end of the day). You can walk off the ship and into town so it made it easy for everyone to do their own thing. Hannah, Kathy and Mary decided to take a taxi to Paradise Island to go to the beach. Terre, Tina and I went shopping. (Mom stayed on the ship as she was tired after all the walking she did in Freeport.)

The first several streets have a lot of shops ranging from cheap t-shirts to upscale designer goods. After a time, Terre and I walked back to the pier looking to take a taxi tour (the taxis here are air conditioned). For $25 we got a tour with Mr. Bojangles in a van with 4 rows of seats and 4 other people. He gave a great tour, visiting a beach and different residential neighborhoods from the beach-side upscale to the poorer neighborhoods that were still blessed with abundant fruit trees.

We went to Fort Fincastle which was on what appeared to be the highest hill on the island so it had a great view of the port. We drove past the government center, president's house, churches, historical sites and then went over the bridge to Paradise Island to the Atlantis resort. He gave us 45 minutes to walk around and see the place. It was very impressive. Most of the grounds including the extensive waterpark are only available to paying guests but we could walk through the lobbies, casino and restaurants. One of the restaurants has views into the aquarium. (To see the full aquarium, you have to pay. It is designed to be the ruins of the lost city of Atlantis.) We also walked around the outside of the building and the marina. Hannah, Kathy and Mary were also dropped off at Atlantis and walked though some of the hotel where there is access to a public beach. They got to swim in the ocean.

That night the gift shop on the ship had a sale on t-shirts. We got giddy and bought matching t-shirts with the idea of getting the ship's photographer to take our picture. Evidently they had closed up shop for the night but we ran into our waitress, Alma and got this picture.

 Day 6

     Our last full day on ship was another sea day. By now we were old salts at sea so we had mapped out games, dance lessons and scrapbooking classes to attend. The highlight of today's food service was the chocolate buffet. Interestingly, the pistachio rice pudding was the best dessert on the buffet.

     At dinner that night Terre was not feeling hungry. It was then she realized she had eaten three lunches! You just lose track of time when you are cruisin'. Some of us decided to dress up again for our last dinner on ship. Alma got another waitress to take a group picture. It turned out to be the best shot we got of the entire group!

The sunset that night was spectacular. A rain storm has passed west of the ship and we could see both ends of the rainbow.
We went up to the sports deck by the water park which was now deserted. There was an orange glow right out of a movie set. What a great ending to a great cruise.

Epilogue

     On our last morning on ship we went to the dining room for breakfast and then went to the Via Marina to wait for our number to be called to disembark. It was a short walk from the pier to the taxi stand and we all fit in one taxi back to the hotel. The van was waiting for us unmolested (unless you count the sap from the trees all over the hood). We managed to get all our luggage in the van (we now had all seven of us in there).

Just a "short" 2-day drive to Detroit (we poetically stopped in Charleston, West Virginia for the night). All my sisters' husbands were there waiting for them. Actually my bother (Hannah's father) was right behind us as we neared the hotel. I thought some rude Detroit driver was beeping at me but it was just my brother.








Total miles driven: 2026  (Louisville-Charleston 682, Charleston-Detroit 922)

Gallons of gas used: 130

Average miles per gallon: 15.5

And we all want to go again...