Carnival Fascination, Carnival

Wow - our first big cruise and we were pleasantly surprised. The stateroom was spacious and clean with a wet area as opposed to a shower. Square large windows and no port holes. The steward was on top of changing the towels and never got in our way. The food was average in the Lido but the the food in the restaurant was superb. All the staff were friendly and extremely helpful. Our only 'complaint' was were the smoking areas allocated. Being an ex smoker I am probably the worst complainer now but in England the smoking laws are not to smoke inside a public area and the areas allocated are usually away from where a non-smoker would want to go, if outside. Obviously American laws are not the same and the smokers were allowed to smoke inside the Stars Bar - albeit in a corner but the corner was right by the band and where a non smoker would want to sit if listening to the band. They were also allowed to smoke in the casino and an area around the Lido. The smell of smoke is not contained to those areas and as soon as you got anywhere near then you could smell the smoke. We wanted to see the band so we put up with it one night and after the night in our cabin, we noticed that the clothes we had been wearing the previous evening smelt of smoke. That was the only thing. We will definitely be travelling on a Carnival ship again though - especially for the Serenity Deck. Thank you.