The Carnival Fantasy is Carnival Cruise Line's oldest ship in the fleet, at this time. However, the ship has been dry-docked many times since 1990 for upgrades and to receive many amenities newer Carnival ships have. The Carnival Fantasy is the first ship in Carnival's Fantasy Class, which comprises 8 ships in the fleet. This article will give some basic facts about the ship and tips for cruisers that will be sailing on the Carnival Fantasy in the future. 

Basic Facts:
         The Carnival Fantasy was launched into service in 1990 after being built in Finland.  The Carnival Fantasy, as well as many other Carnival ships, is registered in Panama. The ship's fact sheet reports there are 920 crew members and 2056 guests (double occupancy). The ship may not be the largest in today's cruise industry, but it weighs over 70,000 tons and is about 855 feet long.  For more interesting facts about the ship click here to view the Carnival Fantasy's fact sheet.

Some Highlights Of The Carnival Fantasy's Features & Places On-Board:

• Guy's Burger Joint (Deck 10 - Lido) 
         Guy's Burger Joint is a popular Fun Ship 2.0 amenity that Carnival has been slowly adding to its fleet of ships. The Carnival Fantasy received Guy's Burger Joint during a February 2016 dry-dock. Guy's Burger Joint serves free hamburgers and french fries at lunchtime. For those that were familiar with the Carnival Fantasy before this dry-dock enhancement occurred, ​Guy's Burger Joint replaced the main Lido deck grill. Guy's Burger Joint can be found on the Carnival Fantasy's outside area of the Lido Deck buffet. 
• Blue Iguana Cantina (Deck 10 - Lido) 
             The Blue Iguana Cantina is another feature Carnival recently added to the Carnival Fantasy. The Blue Iguana Cantina serves burritos and tacos at lunch. Usually, the Blue Iguana Cantina also has some breakfast options too. To compliment tacos and burritos, Carnival's Blue Iguana Cantina also has a salsa bar. The salsa bar has a multitude of salsa options available for cruisers. The Blue Iguana Cantina is complimentary! The Blue Iguana Cantina can be found on the outside part of the Lido Deck buffet near Guy's Burger Joint.
• Serenity Adults Only Retreat (Deck 9 - Promenade) 
               Cruises are often filled with children and some adults want to get away from kids. Carnival designed and implemented an area on the Carnival Fantasy referred to as the Serenity that is for adults that are 21 & older only. This area is located at the very back of Deck 9, which is the Promenade Deck. 
• Celebration Dining Room & Jubilee Dining Room  (Deck 8 - Atlantic) 
              The Celebration Dining Room & Jubilee Dining Room are the Carnival Fantasy's main dining rooms. The Celebration Dining Room is located in the middle of the Atlantic Deck and the Jubilee Dining Room is located at the back (aft) of the Atlantic Deck. The dining room cruisers are assigned for dinner can vary due to each cruiser having a different assigned dinner time. Typically, Your-Time Dining is held in the Celebration Dining Room. Both of these dining rooms are named after former Carnival ships. The M/S Celebration and M/S Jubilee were both a part of Carnival's Holiday class, which entered service before the Fantasy Class. 
• Carnival's WaterWorks  (Deck 11 - Verandah) 
               A few years ago,  the Carnival Fantasy received Carnival's WaterWorks enhancement. The Carnival Fantasy's WaterWorks consists of a splash pad and multiple waterslides. To get on the waterslides you will have to go up to Deck 12's aft, by the ship's funnel. The waterslides will land on Deck 11 (the Verandah Deck). 
• Red Frog Rum Bar & Blue Iguana Tequila Bar (Deck 10 - Lido) 
               Both of these bars are new to the Carnival Fantasy and are located on the ship's Lido Deck (10). If you are by the Lido Deck mid-ship pool, you will more than likely be able to easily spot these bars. Both bars serve different frozen drinks and beer for cruisers to purchase. 
• Universe Lounge
                The Universe Lounge is the Carnival Fantasy's main show lounge. This is where the ship's production shows take place as well as some other entertainment activities that draw larger audiences. The Universe Lounge is located on two decks. The bottom level of the lounge is on the Atlantic Deck (Deck 8) and the upper level of the lounge is located on the Promenade Deck (Deck 9).
• Windows On The Sea Bar & Grill 
            ​        The Windows On The Sea Bar & Grill is the Carnival Fantasy's Lido Deck buffet. The buffet is located at the back of the Lido Deck, which is Deck 10. In the buffet you will find many different food lines that have some different options depending on the day and meal being served. Also, the Carnival Fantasy's pizzeria and deli located at the back of the buffet.  The buffet has ice cream available 24 hours a day. 

Some Helpful Tips & Tricks:

• If you are trying to walk from the front to the back of the ship (or vice versa) almost all decks will be able to get you from one end to the other. However, the Atlantic Deck will not because the dining room galley is in the middle of the deck. Also, Decks 12 and 14 are split and will not allow a cruiser to get from one end to the other.
• The Carnival Fantasy's atrium has two glass elevators. These elevators can offer a great view of the ship's atrium. 
• At the front of the Carnival Fantasy's Verandah Deck (Deck 11), there is a door that will allow cruisers to go outside onto an observation deck. This observation deck is directly above the ship's navigational bridge. The best way to get to this observation deck is to walk to the front of the Verandah Deck to the area where the Verandah Deck staterooms begin. You will have a choice to go left or right. Take the hallway to the left and at the very front of this hallway you should see a door that leads to the outside. Once you open this door there will be another door only a few feet away that you will have to open before being completely outside on the deck.
• The lobby of the Carnival Fantasy's atrium is located on the Empress Deck (7). In the atrium's lobby, you can find the Shore Excursions Desk and Guest Services. There is also a bar on the Empress Deck level of the atrium.
• The ship's mini golf course and jogging track are both located on the Sun Deck (14).  

For more research and information on the Carnival Fantasy:
http://www.carnival.com/cruise-ships/carnival-fantasy.aspx  - This is Carnival's website page that is dedicated to the Carnival Fantasy. Here you can find some dining information, amenity information, and the deck plans.

     The Carnival Vista still has a few months until it makes its debut, but Carnival has been busy putting a variety of resources online for the ship's future cruisers. Once the ship enters service and has completed cruises, I am sure we will see many Carnival Vista cruise reviews with pictures, but at this time Carnival has given us some virtual tours of a few public areas to enjoy. 
      Viewing these virtual tours is extremely easy. I will give you a step by step tutorial on how to find these virtual tours on Carnival's website: 

1)  Go to Carnival Cruise Line's official website. The Carnival Vista has its own separate ship page & profile that contains a variety of photos, information, deck plans, and more. To make this easy on you, here is a direct link to this page: 
http://www.carnival.com/cruise-ships/carnival-vista   (Link will open in a separate window) 

​2.  Once you are on the Carnival Vista's page, find the area for deck plans. Go to the deck plans.

3.  After you have entered the deck plans, you should see a list of all of the Carnival Vista's decks. Choose a deck that has many public areas, such as the Promenade Deck or Lido Deck. Some decks only contain staterooms and some decks contain many public areas.

4.  When you click on the deck of your choice, it should appear. You can zoom in using a scroll bar at the bottom of the deck plan. Find a public area with a red circle that has a white cross in it. This means that you are able to see more on this public area. Click on that red circle and a little pop-up should open that pertains to that area. At the bottom of this little pop-up you should see "Images" and "360-View". Click on the "360 View" to view the virtual tour. If "360 view" is not listed, that probably means this area of the ship has no virtual tour available. 

5.  After clicking on "360-view", you should see a message that says, "Click Here And Drag For Virtual Tour". After you click your mouse on that, you have the capability to scroll around and look at the view Carnival has provided.

These Areas Have The 360-View Virtual Tours Available On The Deck Plans:
These areas have 360 views (in no particular order): 
Deck 15:  Serenity Adults Only Retreat 
Deck 14:  Cloud 9 Spa and Skyride 
Deck 12:  Cloud 9 Spa, Cloud 9 Spa Thermal Suite, Carnival WaterWorks, The Clubhouse, 
Lido Deck:  Red Frog Rum Bar, Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, Blue Iguana Cantina, Beach Pool, Guy's Burger Joint, Lido Marketplace, Seafood Shack, and Pizzeria Del Capitano 
Promenade (Deck 5): Liquid Lounge, Cherry On Top, The Library Bar, Piano Bar 88, Bonsai Sushi, Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse, Alchemy Bar, Red Frog Pub & Brewery, Ocean Plaza, and Havana Bar 
Mezzanine (Deck 4):  Liquid Lounge, Vista Atrium, Vista Casino, Skybox Sports Bar, Limelight Lounge, Horizons Restaurant
Lobby (Deck 3):  Reflections Restaurant, Chef's Table, Horizon's Restaurant 
Deck 2:  Family Harbor Lounge
          There is a possibility I missed an area that has a 360 view available on the deck plans. If this is the case, please let me know. 

Some Additional Notes:
-   These 360 views (virtual tours) Carnival has provided are of renderings. The ship is still under construction, which means the actual public areas are not finished yet.

     Thank you Carnival for providing this feature on the Carnival Vista's deck plans! While these are only renderings, cruisers can still use these to tour the ship and get excited about an upcoming Carnival Vista vacation!