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Home from Ecstasy 1st cruise.


jenndun

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I had a blast. It was a good cruise. Now I have to get back to real life. No one was here with dinner ready and my bed turned down when I got home. I guess it's back to doing it all myself. I had a great time. The ship is so nice. It took a couple of days to figure out where everything was. I bet I missed a lot. We had an AFT balcony which was awsome. We spent a lot of time on it. Most of the food was great. I did have a meal or two that was just okay but still better then I would have had at home. The room was nice and clean no noise or issues. It was way too cold though. The room stewart did a great job. We tried to set through the show but it was too cheesey for us so we went to karaoke ever night which was so much fun. I think I had more fun there than any where else. I played the casino one night but after loosing $20 I was done. Not a big gambler. There was always something to do and eat. The hot tubs were great and there seemed to be plenty of chairs. I have no complants except maybe the girls in the umbrella chairs that said they came down first thing in the morning put their stuff on the chairs and came and went all day leaving it there so no one could use it but them when they were not somewhere else like the casino or lunch. I will be doing it again hopefully soon. I did learn that Baked Alskan is not fish which I always thought it was. I thought there was way too much silverware on the table at dinner. I don't think I even used half of it. Debarking took forever. We were over an hour late to start because someone did not do what they were asked according to one of the staff. I am guessing it was the person they called over the speaker for an hour. Once we could start we did self assist which took and while to get through customs but not too bad. I had a good time and will do it again. Met some great people, some not so great, some upset because their husband spent too much gambling and she didn't know how they would pay their bill. Kindof sad and funny at the same time. I give it an A overall.

Cozumel was a lot different than I thought it would be. We toured the Maya ruins. It was very interesting. Then we went to the beach which was beautiful. The water was awful. It smelled funny. I don't think I would want to vacation in Cozumel. It was very run down and kind of scary looking. I'm glad we decided to do a tour and not venture on our own. The stores were way too pushy even grabbing your arm as you walked by. It was a bit much for me.I bought a couple of things for the kids and left pretty fast. It was nice to visit for a short time but I was ready to leave.

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We also just got back from that same cruise. If you toured the ruins we probably saw you there as we were also there! However I thought the beach was pretty and didn't really notice a smell but then again I didn't really go into the water was just standing to the side letting the kids play for a small bit of time. I figured debarkation was taking to long because of that one person they kept calling but they should of at least came over the speaker to say again that debarkation was taking a little longer instead of just the one time right after 8am. It would of probably made a lot more people happier and not so inpatient if we knew what was going on!

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Thanks for posting your review. I am in the same boat as you with the baked Alaskan, my wife and I went on an Alaska cruise for our honeymoon some years ago and they served the baked Alaskan. I was like, I don't like fish and all of a sudden this great desert is in front of me. At least now I know.

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Glad you had a good time! We are leaving on the Ecstasy for a five day cruise on Saturday. This will be the second cruise for my husband and me and the first cruise for our kids.

 

I have a couple of questions:

Is there body wash provided in the shower?

Hangers in the closet?

Anywhere to play basketball on the ship?

 

Thanks! :)

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Glad you had a good time! We are leaving on the Ecstasy for a five day cruise on Saturday. This will be the second cruise for my husband and me and the first cruise for our kids.

 

I have a couple of questions:

Is there body wash provided in the shower?

Hangers in the closet?

Anywhere to play basketball on the ship?

 

Thanks! :)

 

 

Yes body wash and hair conditioner in showers.

 

I think I counted 8-10 hangers in the closets.

 

I do not recall a B-Ball area, they put the kids water park where it used to be.

There is a golf driving net for working with the pro, a Putt Putt course and jogging track up top on the sports deck. Pool deck now has nice Palm Trees to add a little somethiing extra and several umbrellas.

 

Funnel deck is where the kiddoes access a couple slides and there are loungers up there for norma sunbathing.

 

All slides end up in the kids waterworks area and plenty of sunbathing room for all back there.

 

The wife and I were on this same cruise with OP and it was our 3rd on the Esctasy...

 

Hope it helps.

John

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Great review. I will be on Ecstasy in December. It'll be my 3rd cruise, but 1st on the Ecstasy. I always have a blast in Cozumel, but I am highly curious on Progresso. How was it? Did you enjoy it? What did you guys do while there? What would you recommend doing? Thanks

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Glad you had a good time! We are leaving on the Ecstasy for a five day cruise on Saturday. This will be the second cruise for my husband and me and the first cruise for our kids.

 

I have a couple of questions:

Is there body wash provided in the shower?

Hangers in the closet?

Anywhere to play basketball on the ship?

 

Thanks! :)

 

there is body wash which is decent. But the shampoo is absolutely horrible so I would say at least bring conditioner or a better shampoo (I ended up sharing my 5 year old daughters shampoo that I had to bring). There are some hangers but only like 10 or so. And there is no basketball.

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We are just off the same cruise. We had a great time. We were part of the aft of the ship that had the "plumbing issue" on Saturday but it was resolved quickly and our bathroom was cleaned up in short order. Loved our steward, Marco. I will say that 99.9% of the crew was very friendly. The exception was Charlie the Asst CD on debarkation. He was actually quite a jerk and I was shocked. It was in such sharp contrast to everyone else we had encountered. I won't let it cloud the cruise overall but it sure was disappointing to have that as one of the last contacts we had with the crew. I realize that it was likely a frustrating time for him, but as a ACD he should have the people skills to not take the frustration out on innocent guests. Steve seemed to still be his jolly self despite it all so I think Charlie could take some lessons from him. We never knew why the debarkation was so delayed but could only surmise that "Sherry and friends" hadn't paid their tab as they were called over and over again on the loudspeaker. Me and 200 of my closest friends waiting to debark were considering taking up a collection to pay her debt. ;):eek:

 

We did the Behind the Fun tour and found it fascinating. I would highly recommend it especially if you are a fact nerd. :D

 

We've sailed on the Ecstasy once before so we skipped "Extreme Country" but we found the comedians entertaining. They weren't the best we've ever seen but no complaints really. I could take or leave the other show but I thought the Russian dancers were stunning. I felt for Steve trying to juggle in those rough seas but thought he did very well considering.

 

Count us in as ones that learned what Baked Alaska truly was. :D On the food note, I wasn't really "wowed" by anything either but nothing was really bad. Well... the cheesecake was disappointing. I've never had cheesecake served warm. I'm not sure if it was meant to be or not but we left it. And I was very disappointed that the Rolls Royce cafe was only serving strawberry milkshakes on the last night and said they were out of ice cream. Particularly after we had just taken the Behind the Fun tour that morning and stood in the ice cream freezer and marveled at how much there was and listened to them say they always keep a +3 day surplus of items. :confused:

 

We did Nachi Cocum in Cozumel and highly recommend it. We snorkeled while there and spent the remainder of the day on the beach or floating in the water while drinking our endless supply of alcohol served by Joseph. Food was good and service was good. I would do it again. Like the OP, I was surprised at how desolate the island was but I expect had we went into downtown Cozumel we would have found more development.

 

I wish you could get tea from somewhere besides the Promenade. After our day in Cozumel, I wanted to give my liver a break at the evening show and just wanted some tea. DH asked at the bar and was told it was only served at the Promenade. After walking all the way back there, he discovered they were out of tea and ended up going back to our room to get some of our cokes.

 

On a final note, I had no issues with my flat iron, hair dryer or rum runners. ;)

 

Overall I would give it a A-. I would do it again but am thinking we'll branch out to other ships and itineraries.

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Great review. I will be on Ecstasy in December. It'll be my 3rd cruise, but 1st on the Ecstasy. I always have a blast in Cozumel, but I am highly curious on Progresso. How was it? Did you enjoy it? What did you guys do while there? What would you recommend doing? Thanks

 

We were in Progresso last November....On the recommendations of someone on the Progresso board, we boarded a local bus and went over to Merida....Walked around the town square, visited several old churches, the governor's mansion and a few other sights....then took the bus back to Progresso......I'm glad we went, I really enjoyed it.....but......I don't think I'd ever do it again.....It was hotter than blue blazes walking around and it took about 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back on the bus.....I've heard you can take a horse drawn carriage ride, but we didn't do it, my dad and sis were ready to head back to the ship.

 

"downtown" Progresso is run down and dirty....it's a little fishing village.....When I go back in February, I'm just planning to go to the beach and hang out or stay on the ship....

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Thanks for the recap of Ecstasy. My friends and I will be on board June 26th and we are counting down the days. Last year we were on the Conquest and loved it but we didn't get to go to Cozumel becuase of the swine flu. Looking forward to maybe a massage in Progresso.:D

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Splah: they had tea on the lido deck by both the buffet inside and the mongolian grill by the pool. I don't know how good it was as I don't like tea so I mixed mine with lemonade the whole time. We didn't even know anybody had plumbing problems but it was good that they fixed it very shortly. One thing I did notice though was on Monday while we were waiting to leave the water was not working in the bathroom. Luckily I had hand sanitizer to let the kids wipe their hands with. Our room steward was VERY good but we never saw him/her once and never found out their name or anything. We did drive through downtown Cozumel and found it to be just like most other small cities. However, our tour guide did tell us that 90% of the town works in tourism so they are all working on cruise ship days and that the residents only use about half of the island for themselves and the other half for tourists.

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Op: Have they added hair dryers to the rooms. Carnival changed the layout of the My Cruise section on carnival.com and the description of the room DOES include hair dryers. I have seem many posts that says there are none. I organized a group cruise on the Ecstasy for October and we have 81 cabins booked....our girls are dancing on the ship so obviously I want them to know whether or not to pack this. Thanks for any help.

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Hi all,

I was also on the May 20th Ecstasy sailing. It was my first for Carnival, my 5th overall. My family and I decided we like Carnival. We made the $100 deposit on a future cruise that they were promoting on the ship.

We thought the food and entertainment were pretty good. I managed to eat in the Wind Star dining room for every meal, except lunch on the Cozumel day.

My son and husband tried the sushi bar and liked it. They also liked the sandwich counter near the pizza place.

In Cozumel, we went to Chankanaab National Park, where we felt safe, the water was clean and we were one of a handful of families there. My husband bought a t-shirt on the pier, which was the extent of our Cozumel shopping.

My son and I bought a couple of the $10 watches on the ship. We're still wearing them and they still work, so we're happy.

I met some nice people all over the ship. Great cruise, great vacation, wish I could do it again soon.

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Thanks for posting your review. I am in the same boat as you with the baked Alaskan, my wife and I went on an Alaska cruise for our honeymoon some years ago and they served the baked Alaskan. I was like, I don't like fish and all of a sudden this great desert is in front of me. At least now I know.

 

 

Fish? I'm confused....what does "not liking fish" have to do with Baked Alaska? :confused:

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