Carnival’s Fascination With Hollywood

Whether this gigantic 2,600-passenger vessel with its glass elevators and multihued lounges that change color with computer-controlled neon tubing strikes you as glamorous or glitzy depends on your taste, but it’s certainly not boring.

Fourth in the series of six mega-liners designed by Joe Farcus, Carnival’s seagoing answer to Frank Gehry, the new Fascination has a Hollywood “central idea” (Farcus dislikes the word theme) that branches out all over the place, from lounges named for movie titles (“Diamonds Are Forever Disco”) to drinking establishments that could, but don’t, exist in real life (the posh Beverly Hills Bar with its own BHB monogrammed carpeting in navy and gold).

Perhaps the most controversial elements on board are the 20 movie-star mannequins at various public venues. By controversial, we mean they are not easily recognizable. Passengers ask, “Is that supposed to be Lucille Ball?” and “Do you think that’s Robert Redford?” “No way!”

Provided with a list of the stars, we made our way around the ship, spotting most but failing to locate Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn until noting an otherwise unidentifiable couple in the Beverly Hills Bar.

But that’s nit-picking. The passengers on our five-day pre-inaugural cruise from New York to eastern Canada at the end of July loved them all, posing for pictures by every one almost every hour of the day or night. “Stand behind Bogie and put your arms around him, honey,” we heard one husband, camera in hand, say.

What does work 100% on this ship is the entertainment, from flawlessly professional full-scale productions with laser lighting, superb sound, sensational costumes and a talented company of 18 singers and dancers, to sophisticated late-night adult-only cabaret shows.

Cabins are basic but comfortable, if you don’t plan to snuggle in and read. (And with only 100 or so books in the Tara Library for 2,600 passengers, that’s not likely.) This is a “get up and get out and have fun” ship; even the cabin TV runs the same feature film over and over during a 24-hour period.

You can ask your steward to push the twin beds together if you want a double bed, but you’ll have to settle for a bathroom with shower only unless you book a suite. Take along your own shampoo and shower cap; unlike most cruise lines, the only bath amenities Carnival provides is a slender bar of soap.

The food is much improved in recent years on Carnival ships, with both vegetarian and low-calorie, low-fat spa dishes on every menu. A showy flambe dessert parade takes place every night after dinner. Passengers are assigned to early or late seating in one of the two dining rooms, both of which are nonsmoking; most tables seat six to 10 people.

The Coconut Grove cafeteria is more glamorous than the self-service meal areas on the earlier ships. The casino is more early James Bond than late Las Vegas, with a subdued light level and gilded Art Deco figureheads around the walls. Players will find 14 blackjack tables, three Caribbean stud poker tables, two craps tables, three roulette wheels and countless slot machines and MegaCash slots.

There are two pools, the sheltered midship deck pool with its corkscrew plastic slide and nearby stage for steel drum music and deck games, and a quieter open pool on the aft deck with plenty of sunbathing area around it.

Details we loved: the Al Hirschfeld show business drawings on top of the cocktail tables in the Stars Bar; the glittering mirror-tile piano and dozens of little replica piano-shaped tables in the 88 Piano Bar; the top-hat motif in the Puttin’ on the Ritz club, where Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn are standing by the entrance; the excellent modern art on board, much of it by London sculptor Susanna Holt; the bright and cheery children’s playroom; the reasonable wine prices, and the springy rubberized jogging track. Details we could do without: the canned rock music all around the ship, even in the library; an unappealing breakfast buffet with bulk-scrambled eggs, underdone bacon and pale white toast (they should check out the bountiful breakfasts on sister company Holland America’s ships), and the constant din from dinging slot machines that seeps into the six-deck open atrium. The Fascination makes year-round seven-day cruises from its home port of San Juan every Saturday (beginning Oct. 1, 1994). Ports of call include St. Thomas, Guadeloupe, Grenada and Aruba, and fares range from $1,349 to $2,429 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from most major North American gateways. A few cities require an additional $100 add-on.

In the port of Los Angeles, Carnival’s 1,452-passenger Holiday will join its sister ship Jubilee beginning June 5, 1995, for three-day cruises to Ensenada and four-day sailings to Ensenada and Catalina Island. Fares with advance purchase discounts begin at $299 per person, double occupancy.

See a travel agent or call (800) 327-9501 for a free color brochure.