Overall, I think the Impact concept is interesting and in
this day and age of “voluntourism”, it could be a very good experience, with
some tweaking.
The downside was a lack of activities onboard. If you weren’t into the Social Impact
activities, or an avid reader (which I am), there was little to do. This is where, in my opinion, Fathom and
Carnival Corp. need to focus enhancements.
The volunteer and self-development objective is great but it is still a cruise
vacation for most passengers and Carnival with over 100 ships, should deliver
more of an onboard entertainment experience.
There is no casino onboard ship, which may be an issue for
some. The shops are very limited (only 2
shops). It’s great they sell fair trade
items in the Sundries store, and there is also American made products in the
jewelry store. That’s about it
though.
Unfortunately, in the evening, if you wanted to go into the
city, it’s a minimum of $60 per taxi. Amber Cove (port) was shut down and not
offering any activities. A passenger in
our co-op group mentioned that she found activities at the Impact Center at
Amber Cove, on the last evening, which no one knew about. Disappointing. Evenings offered “giant board games”, an
occasional movie, a local band (brought onboard), and a Wine and Paint. We all
needed something to do (my first and only time I’ve painted anything besides a
wall). It was a difficult image to
paint, but we had a lot of fun trying.
Fathom was an interesting experience and I would recommend
it to groups and organizations that are looking for “mission travel” with a
chance to enjoy your vacation as well.
Passengers must be ages 8 and over. Our inaugural sailing had some children
(mostly part of the Fathom family), but again, no counselors or child-oriented
activities.
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