Carnival Fascination is the fourth of eight cruise ships operated byCarnival Cruise Line. Built by Kværner Masa-Yards at its Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, she was floated out on July 1, 1994, and christenedFascination by Jeanne Farcus. During 2007, in common with all of her Fantasy-class sisters, she had the prefix Carnival added to her name. She is currently home-ported in San Juan, Puerto Rico and sails to the Caribbean year-round. After the destruction caused from both Hurricane Irma and Maria, she was docked in St Croix, US Virgin Islands under charter to FEMA to house hurricane relief workers from October 15, 2017 until February 3, 2018. In July 2020, as a result of Carnival Cruise Line reducing fleet capacity, Carnival Fascination entered a long term lay-up status, with no planned date for the ship to enter back into service.
Refits
Fascination was given a multimillion-dollar refurbishment while in dry dock during September 2006. In January 2010Carnival Fascination was again dry docked to be refurbished. In January 2013, Carnival Fascination underwent another dry dock.
Areas of operation
Fascination sailed from New York between July 24 and September 4, 1994 before moving to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Until 2016 Carnival Fascination sailed from Jacksonville, Florida to the Bahamas. In 2013 and 2014, Coco Cay replaced Key West on some of Carnival Fascinations itineraries. Coco Cay is a private island in the Bahamas owned by rival cruise line Royal Caribbean International. In April, 2016, Carnival Fascination re-positioned to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she undertook Southern Caribbean cruises. In October 2017, Carnival Fascination was chartered to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for four months and was docked in St. Croix as part of hurricane relief efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This charter cost FEMA $74.7 million. From February 2018 until March 2020, the ship resumed operating Southern Caribbean cruises departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Incidents
Power loss
In June 2010, Carnival Fascination lost engine power due to a technical malfunction while returning to Jacksonville, Florida. Power was restored after several hours, and the ship was able to return to Jacksonville, Florida under its own power.
In April 2013, it was reported that on February 21, 2013 Carnival Fascination failed a CDC health inspection after inspectors found insects in food preparation areas, dried food waste, insufficient chlorination in the pools, and insufficient sneeze guards at the salad bars. A satisfactory rating from the CDC is a score of 85 or higher. Carnival Fascination scored an 84.
In February 2020, the ship canceled a call to Saint Lucia over a scare of COVID-19 pandemic. This is after a crew member reported illnesses, and flu like symptoms. The ship docked in Barbados but was not allowed to disembark until the individual was declared negative for SARS-CoV-2.
