JohnSpo

I was on the same sailing and pretty much echo your thoughts. I wasn't expecting much at such a low rate, but it was really a great cruise.

Glad to hear you all had a great time. I will be on Splendor with the same Bahamas itineary next month. I can't wait.:cool:

Enjoying your review. It looks like you are having a great time overall.

I see you ate in the steakhouse, Lido and did he chef table. I guess you are not much of a fan of the MDR.

I enjoy the YTD at the MDR. I like the flexibility and being able to choose your wait staff.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.:cool:

I had cabin 2217 on Glory last year. This cabin is a porthole with a twin bed an a couch. I think the port hole cabins are longer because it can fit the bed and couch. The inside cabins could not fit the couch.

The port hole cabins are great. You will enjoy it. :cool:

Glad to see you enjoyed the steakhouse. I will be going to the steakhouse on Splendor for the first time in January. The steakhouse meal sounded great.

Did you have room for dessert? If you did, what did you have? How was the Santa Carolina Merlot?

Enjoy your cruise.

Great start to your review. Enjoy your cruise. I look forward to your solo perspective since I will be going solo on Splendor out of NYC this Jan 2014.

Have fun!:cool:

Missing HMC is a real bummer. I was just on Ecstasy. We stopped in HMC on Thurs Nov 21. The weather was perfect. I think I was in the water for 4 hours. I just couldn't get out. The sand is powdery and cool to the feet even though it was about 85 degrees. Carnival had a nice BBQ lunch for us. After my fun in the water I enjoyed hanging out and relaxing in the hammocks before heading back to the ship.

I look forward to a future visit to HMC.

Sorry to hear about missing HMC.:(

I hope you get there soon on a future cruise.

The Ecstasy is indeed wonderful!

I agree. Ecstasy is a great ship. It has most of the big ship amenities without all of the people which resulted in almost no lines.

I just did a solo 5 night Ecstasy for $179 before taxes and fees. What a deal. It was an awesome cruise out of Port Canaveral to Freeport, Nassau and HMC. Freeport rained, Nassau was nice and HMC was awesome. Ecstasy was a great ship. Crew was great, ship was clean, food was good and so was the entertainment. I sure hope Carnival keeps these solo deals. I will be able to cruise more often. I see that some deals are available until Jan 2014. I hope they continue. Go Carnival:cool:

I just got off the Ecstasy this past weekend. It was Port Canaveral to the Bahamas for 5 nights. I had a great time. Even though it is a smaller ship, the lack of crowds and lines really made for a fun and relaxing cruise. Overall the ship is clean, great crew, great food, nice shows and the comedy shows were the best I have seen. I have been on both Victory and Ecstasy and I would choose Ecstasy. There never seems to be anything good on the big screen anyway.:cool:

Speaking for myself, I would rather save money and cruise more often. :D

This is my cruise motto also. I just got back from an awesome 5 nighter on the Ecstasy and I will also be on Splendor out of NYC in Jan 2014. I would not be able to cruise this often if traveling on the other over priced cruise lines.

I guess I am lucky that I do enjoy Carnival's ships, cabins, crews, entertainment, excursions and food. I have no need to over pay on the other cruise line and not to be able to cruise as often. Over paying for things I probably won't even use seems like such a waste of money to me. Also, I like traveling on the smaller ships with less people. My recent Ecstasy cruise was a real pleasure because there were almost no lines. This was a relaxing cruise. That is why I will continue to cruise with Carnival and I hope to for a long time.

:cool:

Yes, do a search for Publix Supermarket. They have a large selection of wines at reasonable prices. This is where I usually go to purchase my wines before cruising out of Florida.

There is a Publix in Cocoa Beach that I have been to before. I believe it is on A1A not too far from Ron Jon.

I was on this Ecstasy sailing. My WCMC did look soupy like the photo. I asked for another one and it was perfect.

I think it would be better to tell the waiter and they will be happy to get you another one. This way the kitchen knows immediately. Waiting to tell the Maitre D is too late.

I have 2 reservation made on my next 8 night cruise on Splendor. I do like the MDR food so I will not do more than 2 nights. I think it is a great idea to eat at the steakhouse every night if you want to.

You can make reservations on the Carnival Website. You will have to make a separate reservation for each night. In Carnival.com, go to Manage, My Booking, Activities & Excursions, Steakhouse Reservations.

You should have no problem making reservations for all the nights you want if you do it in advance. A day or so after you send in your first request, you will get an email from the steakhouse confirming your reservation. You should reply to the email alerting them of your intent to reserve for every night and ask them if you should reserve the additional nights on the website or if they can do it for you. This way they will know they are valid reservations for each night.

Enjoy the cruise and the steakshouse.:cool:

Another thing Ecstasy did not have was the sea day brunch. I did ask the Lido staff and they said it should be added early next year.

I went to both Hasbro shows recently on Ecstasy. I didn't think I would like it but they were great. It is geared to both kids and adults.:cool:

I just got off of the Ecstasy this past Saturday. This was one of my favorite cruises. The ship had everything I wanted: nice pool, serenity deck, waterworks, casino, great shows, great comedians, great food, excellent service, full size gym, clean cabins. Ecstasy even had the coffee shop, Mongolian Wok, rotisserie, deli, pizza, and the grill.

Some things that Ecstasy did not have was the big screen on Lido, no sushi, no steakhouse restaurant.

The best thing was there were almost no lines for anything on this 5 day cruise. On and off the ship was quick. No lines at the buffet and Your Time Dining. The rotisserie and Wok had a very small lines or no lines at all. Pizza and the deli never had a line.

I was concerned about going on a smaller ship but now I love them.:cool:

I will be in Florida for 8 days Nov 16 thru Nov 24 to take care of some business and to visit some family and friends. I stumbled on this post and I lucked out because I was able to book the 5 day Ecstasy out of Port Canaveral on Nov 18. Great solo deal on this 5 day Bahamas itinerary. It stops in HMC which is a port I have on my list to cruise to. Luckily I can take care of my business and visiting and still fit this cruise in. I can't wait. I board the Ecstasy in 6 days.

The deal is so good that it is costing me less than if I was on land for the 5 days. I hope they do continue this in 2014.:cool:

Thanks for your review. Glad to hear you had a good time. I'll be on the Jan 20th Splendor sailing. I can't wait. I have a quick questions.

Was the pizza the thin crust or the thicker crust?

Since Half Moon Cay was run by Carnival staff, was the BBQ meal included or an extra charge?

Did they use the retractable roof over the pool area in the colder/portion of the itinerary?

Were the seas calm?

Thank you!

:cool:

I'm also on the Jan 20th sailing. I did hear on the Splendor that on the colder/rainy days they close the roof over the pool area. It is suppose to be comfortable enough to be out and lounge by the pool. I just don't know if it will be warm enough to swim with the roof covering the pool area.:cool:

Thanks for such a great review. Your Splendor ship photos were great. It looks like you all had a great time. I am on Splendor on the Jan 20, 2014 sailing for the Florida/Bahamas itinerary. I am more of a ship person than a port person so your extensive photos of the ship were awesome. I look forward to my 8 days on Splendor.

Wow. Really enjoying your review and this is just the pre-cruise part. I look forward to each step of you trip. You write with a lot of description and the photos are great. Awesome job! Thanks for posting. :cool:

I was quite happy with her the way she was! I'd like to try one of Guy's burgers, but if it means losing the Mongolian Wok and the Sushi Bar - I'll pass! :D

I totally agree. The regular lido grill burgers etc. are great the way they are and I am glad this remains on Splendor. I look forward to my evening sushi so I am also happy it remains on Splendor.

I have not yet tried the Mongolian station and I look forward to trying it when I am on Splendor in Jan 2014.

Anyone been on Splendor 1A 2217 lately? Just wondering how it handled the seas heading down to Florida and the Bahamas.

I'l be in Key West in May. I like to do walking tours so these are great suggestions.

I heard that a vendor in KW sells key lime pie on a stick dipped in dark chocolate. I sure would like to find that place. Has anyone seen it?

Wrigley80. Great review! I will be going to Key West in May and this review and pics gave me some ideas of things to do. I tried Any Time Dining on my last cruise and I also like it.

Great photos and an excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to review it. It looks like you and your father had a great time. :)