My Ecstasy Review (March 10-15)

Captain: Leonardo Contarino

Hotel Director: Dave Drier

Cruise Director: Benjamin Lambert

Cabin: Category 4E, cabin #E141

Sail Date: March 10, 2017 – March 15, 2017

We left Charlotte early on March 10 and arrived at the parking area around 10:15. Once inside the gates, we dropped off our luggage and proceeded to the next stop. The lady looked at our passports and put a sticker on the windshield, put another sticker on and told us to come back at 11:30. In the past we’ve been able to get in line or start a line of cars for parking. It was 10:30 at this point. We drove around the block and found a parking spot right in front of the gates and waited. Around 11:00 we noticed vehicles with the same stickers on their windshields going on inside, so we did the same. This put us about 100 cars back from where we should have been, had it worked the same as in the past. From here we waited another 30-45 minutes before we started moving.

We got our handicapped card for the dashboard and as we drove into the parking garage, the man made us continue on to the next level of parking. We drove back around into the handicapped parking area and parked. This took up some extra time that we didn’t want to waste, but the shuttle was still there so we hopped on and our cruise experience began. After all this and we were checked in, we hit the buffet for some lunch.

Food:

The Ecstasy has the American Table menu and I didn’t feel the selections were as good as the old menu, even though it gives you more options. I miss some of my old favorites like the bitter and blanc.

Breakfast and lunch in the dining room were just okay, nothing to write home about. The bacon was always under cooked for our liking, and I got a papparedelle dish at lunch that was so spicy I couldn’t eat it and didn’t have enough water to drink it away. We had some issues at dinner as well the night before and we spoke with the maître d’ about those issues and he said he would speak with the chef. The next night we sat on the opposite side of the dining room. We had an excellent wait staff and the maître d’ stopped by to check on us. The wait team was all over us as well, making sure everything was okay.

We liked this team and decided to keep them for the rest of the cruise. The wait staff worked hard the entire cruise making sure everything was okay, except for the last night. That night my prime rib was undercooked and no one came back to check on us. I had nothing to eat that night except my appetizer and soup. I had the flatbread one night as my entrée and I liked that. Other entrees I got were a shrimp dish, and a pepper steak. My prime rib on the first night was cooked perfectly. All of the soups we got were good and the rolls were all good. They were much softer and you had a variety, not like the old hard ones they used to give you. My favorite had cranberries in it!

We are Platinum members so we got a coupon for free drinks on a brunch day. I love the tomato soup on brunch days, so I ordered that. We ordered classic margaritas. We got some kind of blue drink. The tomato soup was what was left over from dinner the night before. It was not the creamy red tomato soup that looks like Campbell’s you normally get, so we were disappointed once again.

The buffet has fewer options, probably because Guy’s Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana have been added to take some pressure off the buffet. The ice cream station was always a mess, and I think a lot of that is small children trying to get their own ice cream. It rarely had time to freeze so when it came out unfrozen, everyone just left it in the tray to melt with the cones stacked on top. Gross. The line for pizza is always too long, and the deli line could be long at times as well. All of this, I believe, is because there were so many people on board.

My husband got a burger from Guy’s and said it wasn’t as good as it could have been if he’d gotten it freshly made. There were so many people that the burgers were cooked and placed in a warming pan. We did not try the Blue Iguana, couldn’t get near it.

We did not order from room service.

My shrimp entree:

Prime Rib first night:

BBQ Duck:

Chocolate Melting Cake:

Flatbread:

Ice Cream Station at the Buffet:

The Ship:

The ship had just come out of dry dock and looked pretty good. Due to it being spring break, the ship was overcrowded with people everywhere! With 2600 passengers, people were laying out around the mini golf course because the pool was so packed. Just walking past some of cabins when the stewards were cleaning, there were probably three and even four people in most cabins; even the pull down beds were being used in most cabins.

It has plenty of bars for its size. The Starlight Lounge is bigger than on the Fantasy and that is where the Comedy Club and Carnival Quest are held. Blue Sapphire lounge is the main theater.

The ship is not as gaudy as the Fantasy, but it has the same layout as the Fantasy. I liked it, but do wish they had more seating through the passage ways like other ships do by the windows. There is limited seating on either side of the Alchemy Bar.

As crowded as it was, we were able to get chairs at the Serenity deck the next morning and spent most of the day there. The towel attendant, I Nyoman, was very pleasant and helpful. He asked me my name the first morning and saw me on HMC and called to me. I’m like, how did you even recognize me, much less remember my name?! He was so sweet and humble, loved his job, but wants to be a cabin steward or assistant cabin steward; I hope he makes that. He did take towels and bags from a chair beside me that had not been used the entire morning. Those items were there when I got my chair at around 8:30/9:00, and he removed them two hours later. Within 10 minutes of his taking them, the lady shows up looking for her things. Of course, by this time someone else had the chair.

The Atrium:

Love the mirrors!:

Alchemy Bar:

Pool:

Mini Golf Course:

Serenity Deck:

Ports of Call:

Half Moon Cay was our first stop and it is a beautiful island in the Bahamas. We had been there before and were excited to go back. As I mentioned earlier I Nyoman saw me on HMC and waved me downed. We talked for a while and then I trucked on through the softest sand in the world to find a chair. I spent most of the day sunning it while my husband spent his time in the ocean or in the shade.

Lunch was the typical BBQ chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs. I got a hamburger and some fruit which was very good. My husband wanted ribs, but settled for the chicken since there were no ribs. After lunch we spent some more time there and went back to the ship around 2:30 or 3:00. We went over on the first tender so I was ready to go back by that time. People were still coming over that late in the day. One thing about lunch is that they don’t make any announcements so I’m not sure everyone knew there even was lunch. I they opened up around 11:30.

Freeport:

Not much to tell ya here, we didn’t get off the ship, and if you’ve ever been to Freeport, you know why.

Half Moon Cay:

Shows:

The first night’s comedians were Cee Jay Jones and Merl Hobbs. I thought Merl Hobbs was funnier than Cee Jay Jones and he was not nasty and raunchy like Cee Jay Jones. We saw the Welcome Aboard show, and honestly, I can’t remember it!

On the second day, we saw the comedians and Motor City, which really was just the seven singers sitting on stools on stage and each one or a couple would get up and sing a Motown song. I did joy hearing the old songs from my teen years. We did the ‘80s Trivia Party one night.

In Freeport that night we saw Merl Hobbs’ PG show and the Love and Marriage Show, which is always funny. Sat in on the Karaoke show and then we went to the Carnival Quest…

For those of you who have been to Royal Caribbean’s Quest shows, you ain’t seen nothin’. This Quest was unbelievable, and I can’t talk about it because, well, what happens at the Quest stays at the Quest, but it got a little dirty – guys wearing women’s thong underwear on their heads, guys wearing nothing but thethong underwear, clothes being swapped between men and women…well you get the picture. Most of the participants were spring breakers and they seemed to love it. I think given a choice, I would rather go to a Royal Caribbean Quest.

The next day was a sea day and the entertainment that evening was okay. We went to the Brits Show, which was pretty good, and the singers actually performed as a production show. They sang all the songs from the British Invasion era. I enjoyed the songs and the show was okay. We went back to the cabin after this because I needed to finish packing.

Cruise Director:

Our CD was Ben and he was really pretty good. I wasn’t sure at first, but he was really funny, very quick witted. His girlfriend was on board this cruise and we saw them at dinner one evening across from us. He is from South Carolina.

Our Cabin:

We booked an inside, category 4E, cabin #E141. This was on the Empress deck very close to the Atrium Bar and Guest Services. It was quite convenient and we liked this deck. Our cabin steward was Iwan. He did an excellent job keeping us filled with ice, not only for the small ice bucket, but for a bigger bucket with my wine. He also made sure I had two white wine glasses every day. He kept the room very clean and nice twice a day, and made the best towel animals. The cabin is tiny and the bathroom has only one small shelf for toiletries. If you are one of those people who brings those shoe bags to hang over the door for your toiletries, this was the bathroom for that. There was not much leg room between the toilet and the wall (not sure what a tall person would do), but I thought the shower was a tad bigger than most.

Embarkation:

Given the mess with parking, we were about 30 minutes later checking in than we should have been. Usually at this port, we are some of the first ones to go through security. I’d had a knee replacement in December and as expected, it sent the alarms in high gear. I was pulled aside so they could wave the wand over me, even though I told the lady it was my knee. This took about 10 minutes longer than it should have. From there we went right to the Platinum/Diamond check in with no waiting and were on our way to begin our Ecstasy cruise.

Debarkation:

Debarkation was a mess and took an hour longer than before. We opted to do self debark and carry off our luggage. We had one very large suitcase and one carry-on so it wasn’t hard. We were snaked through the hallways and people coming out of their cabins just got in line instead of going to the end, wherever that was. There is priority debarkation for Platinum/Diamond passengers, but for those of us who do self debark, there wasn’t any communication about it, at least we didn’t see it.

Miscellaneous Stuff:

If you go in March, take long pants, sweatshirts, or jackets. It was cold the last day and I had packed a sweatshirt, but it was too cold to even go outside. When we left home temps had been in the 70s and 80s for several weeks and going to the Caribbean, we forgot that it could still get cold.

For more pictures, click here: http://s1336.photobucket.com/user/Terre52/library/Carnival%20Ecstasy%20March%202017/Carnival%20Ecstasy%20March%202017%20public

Thanks for the review!:D

Thanks for the review.

You're both welcome, hope it helped you.

Great review and very nice photos!

The last time we were on the Ecstasy, we had Iwan as our steward also. We really liked him, he took great care of us. He's a great guy.

Thank you, easyboy.

teknoge3k, he was excellent...we told him one evening that he didn't have to clean the cabin and he was really hesitant about that, but we insisted...no need to clean up twice a day. I know their supervisor spot checks their cabins, but we don't make much of a mess and I hated seeing him have to make up the bed when he didn't need to. I gave him a good extra tip the last day as well as his two assistants; they all work so hard.

Thanks for the review and pictures! We took this ship last year and plan on sailing again in September (to Princess Cays).

One thing of note regarding room cleaning.....i've never understood folks that needs their room cleaned twice per day. I usually keep the do not disturb sign on the door for the length of the cruise. I might take it off for a few hours mid cruise to get some fresh towels, but that's it.

Thanks for the review and pictures! We took this ship last year and plan on sailing again in September (to Princess Cays).

 

One thing of note regarding room cleaning.....i've never understood folks that needs their room cleaned twice per day. I usually keep the do not disturb sign on the door for the length of the cruise. I might take it off for a few hours mid cruise to get some fresh towels, but that's it.

Do not disturb sign is a good idea! Had not thought of that. As we were walking past some of the spring breakers' rooms while the stewards were cleaning, they needed probably 5 times a day!

Excellent review with great pictures! Thank you for taking the time to post!

Excellent review with great pictures! Thank you for taking the time to post!

Thank you!

Captain: Leonardo Contarino

Hotel Director: Dave Drier

Cruise Director: Benjamin Lambert

Cabin: Category 4E, cabin #E141

Sail Date: March 10, 2017 – March 15, 2017

 

We left Charlotte early on March 10 and arrived at the parking area around 10:15. Once inside the gates, we dropped off our luggage and proceeded to the next stop. The lady looked at our passports and put a sticker on the windshield, put another sticker on and told us to come back at 11:30. In the past we’ve been able to get in line or start a line of cars for parking. It was 10:30 at this point. We drove around the block and found a parking spot right in front of the gates and waited. Around 11:00 we noticed vehicles with the same stickers on their windshields going on inside, so we did the same. This put us about 100 cars back from where we should have been, had it worked the same as in the past. From here we waited another 30-45 minutes before we started moving.

 

We got our handicapped card for the dashboard and as we drove into the parking garage, the man made us continue on to the next level of parking. We drove back around into the handicapped parking area and parked. This took up some extra time that we didn’t want to waste, but the shuttle was still there so we hopped on and our cruise experience began. After all this and we were checked in, we hit the buffet for some lunch.

 

Food:

The Ecstasy has the American Table menu and I didn’t feel the selections were as good as the old menu, even though it gives you more options. I miss some of my old favorites like the bitter and blanc.

 

Breakfast and lunch in the dining room were just okay, nothing to write home about. The bacon was always under cooked for our liking, and I got a papparedelle dish at lunch that was so spicy I couldn’t eat it and didn’t have enough water to drink it away. We had some issues at dinner as well the night before and we spoke with the maître d’ about those issues and he said he would speak with the chef. The next night we sat on the opposite side of the dining room. We had an excellent wait staff and the maître d’ stopped by to check on us. The wait team was all over us as well, making sure everything was okay.

 

We liked this team and decided to keep them for the rest of the cruise. The wait staff worked hard the entire cruise making sure everything was okay, except for the last night. That night my prime rib was undercooked and no one came back to check on us. I had nothing to eat that night except my appetizer and soup. I had the flatbread one night as my entrée and I liked that. Other entrees I got were a shrimp dish, and a pepper steak. My prime rib on the first night was cooked perfectly. All of the soups we got were good and the rolls were all good. They were much softer and you had a variety, not like the old hard ones they used to give you. My favorite had cranberries in it!

 

We are Platinum members so we got a coupon for free drinks on a brunch day. I love the tomato soup on brunch days, so I ordered that. We ordered classic margaritas. We got some kind of blue drink. The tomato soup was what was left over from dinner the night before. It was not the creamy red tomato soup that looks like Campbell’s you normally get, so we were disappointed once again.

 

The buffet has fewer options, probably because Guy’s Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana have been added to take some pressure off the buffet. The ice cream station was always a mess, and I think a lot of that is small children trying to get their own ice cream. It rarely had time to freeze so when it came out unfrozen, everyone just left it in the tray to melt with the cones stacked on top. Gross. The line for pizza is always too long, and the deli line could be long at times as well. All of this, I believe, is because there were so many people on board.

 

My husband got a burger from Guy’s and said it wasn’t as good as it could have been if he’d gotten it freshly made. There were so many people that the burgers were cooked and placed in a warming pan. We did not try the Blue Iguana, couldn’t get near it.

 

We did not order from room service.

 

My shrimp entree:

 

Prime Rib first night:

 

BBQ Duck:

 

Chocolate Melting Cake:

 

Flatbread:

 

Ice Cream Station at the Buffet:

 

I did not care for the duck, rather dry and tasteless. The prime rib was very good as well as the shrimp. We only MDR'd once and chose the brunch as our fav stop. The buffet was average, as can be expected, but the morning omelettes proved to be stupendous. We also liked the late Mexican buffet, so if you go, please try the salmon enchiladas. Magnifique!! Our go-to goody was the pizza,very good and the room service reubens.

Great review! Thank you.

Great review! Thank you.

Thank you!

Enjoyed your review, we are cruising in January driving down from Myrtle Beach. If you are Platinum and had a handicapped placard, I thought you'd be priority. Everything I've heard is Platinum's can arrive whenever they want. Also was your parking free?

Thank you so much.

Enjoyed your review, we are cruising in January driving down from Myrtle Beach. If you are Platinum and had a handicapped placard, I thought you'd be priority. Everything I've heard is Platinum's can arrive whenever they want. Also was your parking free?

Thank you so much.

We thought so, too, but we got there very early and that's why she told us to come back at 11:30. People were still debarking. Parking was free for us because of the handicapped tag. I guess because the guy didn't see a placard (I have a permanent tag) is why he waved us on to the next level.

We thought so, too, but we got there very early and that's why she told us to come back at 11:30. People were still debarking. Parking was free for us because of the handicapped tag. I guess because the guy didn't see a placard (I have a permanent tag) is why he waved us on to the next level.

I have this question out there on another thread.............so we should plan on arriving about 10:45?

Thanks for the review.

I have this question out there on another thread.............so we should plan on arriving about 10:45?

Get there as early as you can. They will either let you form or get in the line, or tell you to come back. Try to park where you can see the entrance and when you see cars going in, go. If people are still debarking, they will make you come back.

Thanks for the review.

Thank you!

Get there as early as you can. They will either let you form or get in the line, or tell you to come back. Try to park where you can see the entrance and when you see cars going in, go. If people are still debarking, they will make you come back.

Thank You!!