Carnival Fascination Profile and Photo Review

           

Carnival Fascination is the 17^th Carnival Cruise Lines ship to be profiled on Beyondships.  A member of the Fantasy class, she is in outward appearance very similar to her seven sisters.  However, no two Carnival ships are exactly alike.

            One reason you can make such a sweeping statement is that interior designer Joe Farcus, who has had a hand in designing all of the ships now in service, used a different theme for each ship.  As a result, although the interiors of each class have a similar layout, the public rooms look different.

            On Fascination, the theme was Hollywood.  This inspired the elegant look of the Tara Library, the glamour of the Beverly Hills Bar and the imaginative Passage to India Lounge.

            Fascination entered service in 1994 and over the years, there have been a lot of changes.  Carnival has recognized that there is a market for good quality cruises at an affordable price.  So it keeps investing in the Fantasy-class ships, adding new features and modifying the experience they present so as to keep them vital and consistent with the overall brand image. 

            Today, Carnival Fascination is based in Jacksonville, Florida.  She sails down the Florida coast to that unique American port of call, Key West.  Then it is over to the Bahamas for a day in Nassau and then back home.  Sometimes Freeport or the private island Half Moon Cay is substituted for Key West.  In any case, it is a pleasant fun-in-the-sun itinerary.  It is something Carnival has a lot of experience doing.

            The home page for our profile of Carnival Fascination, which includes copies of daily programs and deck plans, is at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalFascination-Profile.html.   The multi-page photo tour and review of the ship begins at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalFascination-Tour-1.html   

Talking with the Captain and Hotel Director of Carnival Dream

This week we return to Carnival Dream to speak with two of her officers who were instrumental in shaping Carnival’s newest and largest ship. Captain Carlo Queirolo was the first master of Carnival Dream and Hotel Director Donato Becce was the first man in charge of the ship’s hotel operations (i.e. just about everything a guest comes into contact with). Both men started working on the hip when she was still in the shipyard and continued through her entry into service and her first cruising season. Thus, they know the ship well and have shaped the vacation experience that guests encounter on the Dream.

I spoke with Captain Queirolo about the ship from a nautical perspective. After serving in the Italian Navy and on cargo ships, Queirolo came to Carnival in the early 1990s. He has since served on almost all of the Carnival ships and has had the responsibility for bringing four ships into service.

Mr. Becce served with both Cunard and Renaissance Cruises before coming to Carnival. He also managed land-based hotels and has taught in the field. I asked him to focus on some of the highlights of Carnival Dream that make her different than previous Carnival ships.

My interview with Captain Queirolo is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-art-captain.html

The conversation with Mr. Becce is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-art-HD.html

A couple of items in the news . . . .

Carnival Fascination has emerged from the drydock after a multi-million dollar refurbishment. She is the sixth of Carnival’s Fantasy-class ships to go through the “Evolution of Fun” process. From a nautical perspective, these ships have many years of useful life in them and it is nice to see a major line up-grading their hotels so as to remain competitive in the first tier of the market.

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean has announced that Grandeur of the Seas will be deployed to Palma de Mallorca in Spain in May 2011. The idea is to serve British and Irish guests who like to take their holidays in Spain. This is another indication of the British and Irish attachment to Royal Caribbean that has been developing over the last few years. It all began with the idea of trying to market Legend of the Seas to the British market during a deployment in Southampton several summers ago. To the surprise of many, this very American-style product was accepted by the British. So, Royal decided to deploy the larger Navigator of the Seas there. She too was accepted and so Royal substituted the even larger Independence of the Seas for Navigator when Independence entered service. This was so successful that Royal is going to base her in England all year next year. Now, a second ship will be sent to the Med to serve the British/Irish fly-cruise market.