oneboysmom

So, muster drill came and went, it was actually perfect since we were already in our place to be, the lido deck!!! IT was painless as usual, can't really say the time we finished as I have had a few DOD's by this time!

So, next comes sailaway. I had been watching the portcam and have noticed that the Ecstasy never left til at least 4:30. So off to the waterslide deck we go and I see that the Victory has pulled out and the Royal Caribbean ship was just passing us. Well, next up is us!!!! Unfortunately, it had clouded over and got a little breezy, but we stuck it out and watched us sail by South Beach!

We decide to go to our rooms after this to get ready for dinner and put stuff away to organize a little.

We had Anytime Dining as it is a lot easier to not have to worry about what time you have to eat! Service was always good, a little slow for food, but we didn't care, we were on vacation!!

I didn't take any food pictures or menu pictures, but I do remember that there was NO lobster bisque on this cruise, which I was really looking forward to, but they did have cold soups which are always amazing!!

First night, don't remember what I had, I was a little bit more wobbly at this point :cool:.

The welcome aboard show was tonight which we checked out. Saw the Comedians, which made me go to their later performances. They were funny!! After that, I called it a night since we had a very early arrival to Key West!

I was on this sailing, lots of people!

We were on the other side of the muster drill, closer to the buffet!! I'm sure we saw each other a few times! Yes, the ship was busy, but was fun!

What time did u get to the port and on the ship? Thank you for taking time to post review and pics...

Hi scoonrod, we were at the port around 10:30ish and were on board by 11am. As I said, we were the first to board!!! OF course, we received the email saying please don't arrive til 1pm, but who listens to that!!

Now, we're almost there. We paid our taxi drivers and took our luggage to the Porters. We were very early and people were still disembarking. They told us we would have to wait, but we walked up to the door and were allowed right inside. Once through security, we went upstairs where my Dad was able to get a wheelchair. So, as it turns out, we were the very 1st people to board the ship, bypassing everyone. Nothing was opened when we got there, but was nice to say that we were the first on board!

Ok, side note, I can't figure out photobucket, so I'll do it the way I did it in my other post...hope you

can see them!

some of my files are too large it says...will try and get this figured out shortly!! Thanks for the patience

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Ok, I"m hoping that this works!!! IF so, then I can get back to the story! Well, I think you can at least click on the pics and see them!

1st pic is what every Canadian likes to see...Canadian beer in a warm sunny place!

The others are pics as we were pulling up to Embark. There were 4 ships in Port that day.

As I said, am still trying to figure out this photobucket thing. Anyone have any helpful hints to make them bigger, i'm all ears!!! Thanks for reading!

Venetian Pool

Hi all! Have recently returned from a 4 day cruise on the wonderful Ecstasy! I have noticed that there aren't many reviews on this sailing as it is a new sailing for this ship.

In the coming days, I will post pics and thoughts and everything that we did! I've never used photobucket or any type of picture software, so bear with me. I will try to get as much done this weekend as I can!

First though, on this sailing, there was myself, Becky (37), my son, Noah (12) and first time Carnival cruisers, Gord, Linda and my brother Gordie.

We all came down a week prior to the cruise as my brother had a big swim competition in Coconut Grove. And we thought, hey, lets get out of this crappy winter weather and make a nice long warm holiday out of it!

We rented a house in Miami through homeaway.com and it was a lovely house in a great neighbourhood. We had 4 bedrooms with 5 bathrooms, pool, pool table, and anything else you could think of. Much better than being couped up in a hotel for a week!

My son and I had a busy week. We checked out the Venetian Pool, downtown Miami, Bayside Marketplace and South Beach. Was a wonderful time. We saw them get ready for the ultra music fest, but once that started, we stayed clear of that area! Coconut Grove is a very lovely place and has a nice small town feel to it.

Will get to embarkation in a little while after I try to figure out photobucket!! Have some other pics to post as well from South Beach, so stayed tuned....

Hi Jen,

We pulled up along side of you in Cozumel on the Wednesday. I was on the Ecstasy! Looking at the glory for next year, so am looking forward to your review! Any chance your kids went to the kids club? If so, do they have any impressions?

Thanks!

I just sailed on her last week!!! She is a great ship, in great condition. Wait staff, room staff, entertainment staff were all fantastic!!! If you want to know more specifics, please feel free to ask!!

Thanks for the shots of the Ecstasy!! I was on her at that time, leaving the same day. I have pics of your ship. I also have some nice shots of her leaving on the Thursday before from South Beach. I can send them to you if you like! I'm not sure if I'll do a review yet, but am thinking about it. My son was saying that he would like to try the Victory next year for our annual trip, so am looking forward to your review!

Yahoooo!!! You can count me in on the single digit dance too!!!!! 9 days today then onto the Ecstasy!!!!!

Have a great trip everybody!

Do you have any relatives or close friends that live out of town/state? You could say that you're going to meet up with them and this is your only chance to see them.

Thanks for the pics of Mr. Sanchos, we're booked to go there. All I had to do was put a $12 deposit for myself and son with the water toys for him! How was the temp anyways in Cozumel? Just trying to gauge for 2 weeks from now.

Thanks Becky

Hi! Great review so far! We did a tour of Nassau as well when we went there. Didn't have much of a day there and we were pretty sunned out. We just picked one up from the dock basically. We went to that same boutique hotel and saw the grounds. That pool was amazing!! Hand painted and the oldest one in Nassau I guess.

Can't wait to read more!!

Hey Offroad, you wanna join our roll call? We have a meet n greet set-up if interested!

Miller lite comes in twist cap cans and can be resealed. I find these the best as to avoid spillage and you can open as you wish :)

Glad you had a wonderful birthday cruise! The baths look amazing!! Def putting that on my bucket list. I understand your weather, we're in a blizzard here today. I leave in 2 weeks for my vacation and cannot wait!

Thanks for doing up the review! Glad you had nice weather. Hopefully spring will be on its way to us soon!!!

Have you joined our roll call yet?!? Its gonna be a great cruise!!

I used to be a singer for two different cruise lines. There was never an issue getting off of the ship. A lot of the staff stay on board because they are still working. As an entertainer, my shows were at night, so I was able to get off at any port I chose:)

I agree with you. I mean its been a long time since I worked on a cruise as seen in my signature, but we never had to pay to get off at the ports. I mostly worked in the afternoon and nights since I was the dj, so had the days to do whatever I wanted.

Really enjoying your review!!! Can't wait to read the rest! Your pictures are beautiful

thanks for all the great pics!!! That will be us in just over 3 weeks and can't wait!! Glad you had a great time :)

Thank you so much!!!

I would be interested in some reviews as well as we will be sailing on this ship at the end of the month.

Hey kmarie, what date are you sailing? IF its the same as me, you should join our roll call