Fellow Ecstasy cruisers...

[akmart]

How was the disembarkation process in Galveston? We currently are scheduled on a 12:50 flight out of IAH - I am wondering if this is unrealistic. Do they have self- assist disembarkation? We are in a Cat 12 room so we are on the Upper Deck. What floor do you leave the ship on? Any advice would be helpful :)

 

Thanks!!!

 

Amanda

[Stircrzy]

You're cutting it close with a 12:50 PM flight out.

 

It's at least an hour and a half drive from the cruise terminal to IAH, on a good day. Traffic around the port can be hellacious and most airlines want you to check in at least an hour before the flight. Unless you can get off of the ship by 9 AM, you'll be cutting it close.

 

I don't know whether self-assist is available...but if not, you have to go down a couple of flights of stairs and into a lounge area where you clear customs and then stand around awhile before you can disembark.

 

I'd try to change that flight if possible!

[karenh1127]

I agree with Stircrzy. IAH is a good drive from Galveston. Ive heard of some not getting off the ship until after 11:00! HEY!!! I just realized your on the same cruise as us! You are the first one Ive come across but it is not likely we will bumb into each other since it is your honeymoon and we are bringing the kids!:D . I am soooo excited since it is our first cruise!

[Stircrzy]

I'm sailing on March 3rd...I'll try to leave things ship shape for ya'll.

[TXRoo]

EDIT: errr...I should have read the thread first before dispensing recycled advice. :o

 

 

If you're Cat 12 you will get off first. International is about an 1 1/2 hr drive depeding on traffic and at that time of the morning it is heavy through Houston. Say you get off by 10, that puts you at the airport by about noon. That is cutting it really close. You should probably get a slightly later flight.

[Kerrilah]

I grew up in Houston with family in Galveston and I would definitely change your flight. To get to IAH from Galeston is going to take at LEAST 1 1/2 hrs. Not only will there be cruise traveller traffic, but often people from Houston spend weekends in Galveston, and IAH is also the largest and busiest airport in Houston. You really dont want to end your perfect vacation by rushing or worse, missing your flight. And depending what airline you are on, it shouldnt be much trouble to switch to a later flight. Good luck and happy cruising!!!

[Stircrzy]

If you're Cat 12 you will get off first.

 

 

Wait a minute....I've been in a Cat 12 over 10 times and NEVER gotten to get off first...or even second. I had to wait in line with the rest of my color tag.

 

(Mrs. Connie...Should I email Uncle Bob??)

[karlanee]

We were just off the Ecstasy last Thursday. To be honest, the lines for Self-Assist going through immigration/customs and to get off the ship were longer than waiting for our color to be called. Once those people were off the ship, we waited less than 15 minutes - and there were 3 other colors before us.

 

We thought about doing self-assist, but you must remember, you have to lug all of your luggage down the same turning/twisting ramp you went up on for embarkation. That was enough to make us wait. We walked out and immediately got our luggage, no lines or anything. We even talked a porter into carting our luggage down the street for us 3 blocks ($20) so we didn't have to take them ourselves.

 

I would have to agree with Stir, she knows well, since she lives there, you don't want to be cutting it that close especially since Houston traffic is so unpredictable any time of day!

[Stircrzy]

Karla,

 

How was your trip?!?

 

This is my first time in the Owners Suite and first time on the Ecstasy. I'm a cruise junkie, so I know I'll have a great time.

 

But...

 

I'm taking my parents, their friends from Maryland, my bubba and his wife, and my kids and their boyfriends. Only 3 of the 11 of us have cruised before! This is a "maiden voyage" for my parents, just to see if my Daddy can stand being on a ship.

 

Anything I need to warn them about concerning the Ecstasy so they won't be disappointed in their first cruise?

 

Thanks and sorry to others for the off topic posting.

[karlanee]

deleted duplicate post

[karlanee]

Stir,

 

Our trip was okay - but we've decided that cruising is just not for us. The ship was great - very clean, no bad smells, crew was great and very helpful, lots of smiles. The bad parts were no one's fault - just life - we got the cold front come into Galveston on Friday night before we left and we rode the cold front all the way to Cozumel. Because of that, the seas were rough, and we felt quite queazy the whole trip down there. SeaBands are available in the gift shop - glad too because I couldn't find them before leaving home. They helped tremendously. Quite honestly, the other part we didn't like was the other passengers. I think they plucked every obnoxious, rude person on the planet and put them on this ship. It was sad to see how rude so many people were not just to the crew, but to other passengers.

 

My girls were a bit disappointed with Camp Carnival. There were many more kids on the ship than participated in the activities. They would have things listed in the schedule my girls wanted to do, then they'd get to it and it would be something different or they would decide not to do it because only a few people came. They were rather disorganized and really didn't do much to try and make it a lot of fun. The girls did the late-night party but didn't stay the whole time because since the seas were rough and the fun room is at the very back of the ship - all the kids but two got sick and left early (including mine). They did sand art and spin art - then the next day they had a repeat of the same activities - but my girls weren't allowed to do the things they'd done the night before - so they only go to color a tshirt.

 

The crew was incredibly nice I thought, other than the Camp Carnival staff. Everyone I encountered was professional and courteous. I felt that the crew was better here than the Jubilee, the ship was cleaner as well - however - the onboard activites were few and far between. The best activities were for some reason scheduled for port days. Stuff like trivia and things like that - always on port days. On the Jubilee they had stuff like that before every bingo game. Not so here.

 

All in all, it wasn't a bad cruise - just didn't go as we'd planned. However, as I said it wasn't anyone's fault - just a preference issue.

[Stircrzy]

Thanks so much for taking the time to give me a review!

 

I know so well about cruising not being someone's cuppa tea...hubby went one time and never again.

 

Thanks again!

[karlanee]

In Galveston you embark and disembark the ship on the Empress Deck. In Cozumel and Calica we disembarked and re-embarked on Level 3.

[karlanee]

I did think of one more thing, Stir...

 

Make sure everyone brings a jacket or sweater - it's freezing in the Blue Sapphire Lounge. Also, you'll want to get there early for seating of shows and stuff, because if you get stuck sitting up on the balcony, it's very hard to see because of they way the glass front is designed on the balcony. It's just weird. Better to sit down below.

 

We ate in the Wind Song dining room (Aft) - both were nice. We were at table 207 and our waiters were Rodolpho and Todor. Great guys - remembered our kids names right away and even knew when they had switched seats the next night. Each night they brought them the same thing after dessert - hot chocolate, since they all ordered it. All three kids at the able ordered off the adult menu and like it fairly well. My 11 yr old loved the filet, the quail and the duck. We got seated with a family who the wife is a cruise critic person - so we'd met on the roll call boards previously - that was neat. They had a son just a couple years younger than our youngest daughter and they were from Dallas, very close. So it felt like we knew them immediately.

 

There were a LOT of older people on the ship. I know some of it is time of year - but it still surprised me a little.

 

We did a lot of climbing stairs because of the slow elevators. So bring shoes to walk in - and also the atrium elevators seemed to be faster than the other elevators for some reason.

 

On debarkation in ports - they blocked off the forward elevators closest to the security exit down on Level 3 - so you had to walk down stairs or have a crew member help you. Might be something to remember.

 

We got up the morning of our cruise at 5:30 am and watched the ship pull into the terminal at Galveston right outside pier 21. Might be something neat to do since you live right there.

 

One thing I found out the hard way - the washers and dryers in the launderettes do not list how long of a cycle they are. There was no way to tell how long it would be until you put your money in and started it - so as a result we missed the galley tour. They both cost $2 each and are fairly good sized loads. The washer takes 50 minutes and the dryers set for 90 minutes, but didn't take that long to dry. They do have two irons and ironing boards in the one I went, which was nice.

 

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know, but feel free to holler if you have other questions.

[swells2345]

I feel so relieved to hear someone else who was disappointed in Camp Carnival! I was beginning to think we were just odd (well... maybe -but that's another story!) :p Christmas on Ecstasy was our first cruise. It sounds like our cruises were very similar. A cold front also chased us to Cozumel resulting in rough seas, ate in Windsong dining with great waiters who were good with my kids, etc. I didn't encounter that many rude people but did have VERY similar experiences with Camp Carnival. It was very disappointing after all I had heard on these boards about how much my kids would love it. Sounds like Ecstasy needs to rethink their Camp Carnival crew. :(

[karlanee]

Swells,

 

I too was starting to think maybe we strange. But there were just hardly any kids using the Camp Carnival at all - any time. And I kept seeing quite a few kids for this time of year all over - just not in the activities.

 

It was our second cruise - first for our kids - and the first one on the Jubilee was mediocre, this second one was disappointing except for Cozumel - so I just think it's not our cup of tea.

 

Next vacation we're going to fly directly to Cozumel and stay for a week. It will be a bit more expensive - but I think we'll enjoy it more. Or maybe we'll do Disney World. It'll be awhile either way.

[swells2345]

Well, we went at Christmas and there were like 600 kids on the ship! But after the first day, hardly any kids came back for the 9-12 age group including my DD unless I made her because she was bored. Like your kids, the only activity she enjoyed was the t-shirts, sand art and spin art. DS who is 5 enjoyed the candy relay races because he got to eat it. My kids spent a total of 5 hours in Camp Carnival because I would have to force them to go and I would rather just have them tag along with me. We still had a good time but it was disappointing.

 

We did DisneyWorld in in March '04 and really enjoyed that. We stayed in the park at one of the 'value' resorts and had a blast but came home exhausted! I don't know how old your kids are but it would definitely be a vacation to remember. We will probably try cruising again just not in the immediate future (and maybe not on Ecstasy).

[karlanee]

Our girls are 9 and 11. I am not too sure about Disney World. While I know we'd have fun - my husband complained about the walking at Xcaret after only 2 hours - plus we're getting cranky in our "old" age. LOL

 

I think a week in Cozumel might be more our taste. Not sure though.

[GGonza]

We have book a trip 05/16/05 it is a five day cruise and would like ask some question if you don't mind, how many formal nights are they and what days they are,what was the menu like in the dining room,and how bad is Calica.

[lucyjohnz]

1. One formal night and I believe it's the second night on the cruise.

2. Calica the port is nothing but a gravel pit with a few souvenir stalls out front and LOTS of taxi. You can take a taxi into Playa Del Carmen for $10 each way and there's good shopping and drinking (Senor Frogs?) there. I also think there's some nice beach around that don't cost much - your taxi driver would take you there. XCaret is very nice but costs $50/pp entrance fees (about $5 more through the ship excursions) and only includes chairs, view, pools, beach, etc. - no food or drink. You could also take a taxi or tour to Cancun (not worth it since it's 60 miles north and just another, bigger beach town). Or, you could go to Tulum which is about 50 miles south and visit these ruins on the ocean. Or, you can do one of the ship's excursions - Beach Break is $35/pp and probably is much more costly than just getting a taxi to the beach and back. Or you could take the ferry across to Cozumel from Playa Del Carmen but since you're going there the next day, you might want to see something closer. If I hadn't already done it twice, I'd do XCaret again - we really enjoyed it.

[SevenVII]

We cruise the Ecstasy 2/7/05........I have a 2:30 flight out of IAH, and I am worried sick that I wont make my flight.....I would be absolutely paranoid trying to catch a flight at 12:00

[colette5479]

Karla,

How did you like the Harbor House?

[TXRoo]

Wait a minute....I've been in a Cat 12 over 10 times and NEVER gotten to get off first...or even second. I had to wait in line with the rest of my color tag.

 

(Mrs. Connie...Should I email Uncle Bob??)

 

Yes, you should. I was obviously deranged when I posted that...not to mention under the influence of some prescription meds.

 

Pardon my stupidity. :o

[Stircrzy]

Yes, you should. I was obviously deranged when I posted that...not to mention under the influence of some prescription meds.

 

Pardon my stupidity. :o

 

All is forgiven, Roo...perhaps if I could run faster I might have made it to the front of a very long line, but Sis-o-Stir is always late and grumpy. She just wouldn't vacate that room on time!

 

Are you packed and ready to cruise?!?

[SevenVII]

All is forgiven, Roo...perhaps if I could run faster I might have made it to the front of a very long line, but Sis-o-Stir is always late and grumpy. She just wouldn't vacate that room on time!

 

Are you packed and ready to cruise?!?

 

She better be, we set off in 11 days!!!!!!! You going to come give us a send away Stir?