Carnival Ecstasy cabin/deck help.

[jewals]

My husband and I are looking to take a cruise (our 1st!) in November for our anniversary. Since we want to depart out of New Orleans and actually be on the ship for our anniversary, that leaves us with the Ecstasy for a 5 day Western Caribbean cruise. (November 5-10, 2011)

I am ready to book right now, but I need some advice on a cabin/deck.

I keep going back and forth between just ocean view and balcony.

As of right now, it will be just us, but we are trying to talk our friends into joining us since their anniversary is close to ours. :)

(I did try the search feature and didn't find anything.)

Any opinions or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Babyblue]

I would say since its an Aniiversary splurge on a blacony. We got one of the balconys that was added on after drydock and enjoyed it. Especially if someone smokes they can go out and smoke out there.Just dont leave anything burning unattended.

We usually book an inside to save $. But when we went to Alaska I spluged on a suite and LOVED it!

I say splurge a little and get a balcony.

[jewals]

Thanks for the reply. Any certain deck I should choose? What about the location on the ship? Front, back or middle?

[Babyblue]

Thanks for the reply. Any certain deck I should choose? What about the location on the ship? Front, back or middle?

 

Well if you get a balcony your limited to where they are...

If you get an ocean view then If your prone to motion sickness get a cabin in the middle of the ship from Bow to stern(front to back) and in the middle from top to bottom.If motion sickness or movement is not an issue just make sure you look at the deck plans to makes sure your cabin isnt under the club or the pool area Lido deck etc...

I get motion sick but take meds so I am good anywhere on the boat.

Also in front of ship and the back there may be noises from the engine when you dock and or let down the anchor.(I say this from my experiences). It was our alarm clocks though so even that was a plus for us LOL

[Sandra in San Antonio]

You are going to love cruising! We resisted for years...sure we would be trapped with a bunch of "old" people and bored to death. A group I belonged to decided to go on a cruise and we were the only ones not going out of 20 couples, so we reluctantly booked. Within a hour or two of boarding, we were looking at each other and saying, "OMG...what have we been missing?" We hadn't even left Galveston yet and we were hooked.

 

There are many ideas about what kind of room and where. I've read them all and tried most. If you are the least bit prone to motion sickness, I would not recommend a balcony, ocean view, or port hole cabin. Some people absolutely need to see outside...in that case, a port hole or ocean view cabin fills the bill. If you smoke, you must have a balcony or you will have to go to one of the available places that allow it on the ship. If you love to nap, you will LOVE an inside cabin. They are quiet and when the lights are off, they are deliciously dark...perfect for napping. They are designed well and with the "fake" window and drapery, you'll never know you don't have a window. If you like to spend a lot of time in your cabin, enjoy room service in the morning and lounging around, a balcony is good. They are tiny but two people can sit in the chairs provided. (No lounge chairs...not enough room.) If you don't like to sit on your bed all the time, and want a bit more space, a junior suite is good. It is the same as a regular cabin but just a little bit bigger to accomodate a small sleeper sofa. Bathrooms are the same unless you opt for one of the big suites. If you're the type who only goes to the room to sleep and shower, you might as well have a room with bunk beds. If noise is an issue, don't book a balcony over the promenade deck, which is wider than your deck. People will be walking around just below the balcony (they can see you if they look up) and you can hear all the partying. It's very annoying at night when those late-night/all-night types are still shouting and laughing, even with the balcony door shut. The doors are loud when they close and often rattle as well. If the people in the room next door keep going back and forth to/from the balcony, the slamming of their door will drive you crazy if you are trying to sleep. The balconies are divided by a little partition so if you are unlucky enough to get a cabin near someone who likes to hang out on their balcony and make noise, you can't escape.

 

The cabins on Carnival are the largest of it's class and quite comfortable. The beds are great! Don't choose a cabin near an elevator or in a location where everybody on that level must walk past your room. People are noisy in the hallways. Don't choose a room under or over a lounge if you go to bed earlier in the evening. You WILL hear the music. Don't choose a cabin under the fitness center or track if you like to sleep late. You will hear loud feet. Cabins in the middle, lower on the ship, are better if you don't like to feel motion. (Not that you will, really. They are so smooth that we didn't realize we were moving until we noticed a slight sway of the toilet paper in the bathroom!) But in case you run into rougher seas, you might be happier in the middle on a lower deck. We've been pleased with cabins both in the front of the ship and in the back - and prefer to be down at the end of the corridor with hardly any hallway traffic. It's a few more steps to the elevator but worth it for the quiet. But, if you are in a cabin on a deck with a small outside observation area (no chairs provided by the way) you will get lots of hallway & door noise from people going in and out. It's particularly popular when arriving or leaving a port.

 

We didn't notice any more motion or noise in a front cabin but heard more from the propulsion system in a back cabin. We found that cabins on the Veranda deck are convenient...it's a quick walk down the outside stairs to the Lido deck...but definitely noticed quite a bit more motion, outside noise, vibration and rattling in our balcony cabin. Being higher up made a big difference when the ship was on the move.

 

In the end, each cabin has it's good and not so perfect features. It comes down to your preferences and how much money you want to spend. We generally prefer an inside cabin since we are only there to sleep, but depending on the ports and time of year, may get a balcony. If we are traveling with people who will be meeting up or spending time in our room, a junior suite with it's additional sofa seating comes in handy. There's not enough room for 4 on the balcony unless you are standing shoulder to shoulder and it's awkward for everyone to sit on the bed.

 

Have fun choosing!

[cruisin53]

We just was on the Ecstasy in November, and we booked m118 mid ship balcony and loved it. It was on the main deck.:)

[Grits53]

It's your anniversary. Go with a balcony. OV's are OK, but given the choice, I will ALWAYS go with a balcony on any ship. :D I would advise you to choose one of the new aft balconies, rather than the original forward balconies.

[JRock59]

We had an aft balcony back in May for our Anniversary and LOVED it! I do agree with Grits stay away from the Veranda balconies they are in the front of the ship, you feel a lot more movement if you should hit "bad" weather and the balcony is tiny compared to the new added on ones. She's a great ship for a first Cruise just the right size. Look at her deck plans and stay away from cabins that have lounges above or below them. We had U239 and it was very quiet and there's nothing better than the aft view from your balcony! :)

[okwriter]

You are going to love cruising! We resisted for years...sure we would be trapped with a bunch of "old" people and bored to death. A group I belonged to decided to go on a cruise and we were the only ones not going out of 20 couples, so we reluctantly booked. Within a hour or two of boarding, we were looking at each other and saying, "OMG...what have we been missing?" We hadn't even left Galveston yet and we were hooked.

 

There are many ideas about what kind of room and where. I've read them all and tried most. If you are the least bit prone to motion sickness, I would not recommend a balcony, ocean view, or port hole cabin. Some people absolutely need to see outside...in that case, a port hole or ocean view cabin fills the bill. If you smoke, you must have a balcony or you will have to go to one of the available places that allow it on the ship. If you love to nap, you will LOVE an inside cabin. They are quiet and when the lights are off, they are deliciously dark...perfect for napping. They are designed well and with the "fake" window and drapery, you'll never know you don't have a window. If you like to spend a lot of time in your cabin, enjoy room service in the morning and lounging around, a balcony is good. They are tiny but two people can sit in the chairs provided. (No lounge chairs...not enough room.) If you don't like to sit on your bed all the time, and want a bit more space, a junior suite is good. It is the same as a regular cabin but just a little bit bigger to accomodate a small sleeper sofa. Bathrooms are the same unless you opt for one of the big suites. If you're the type who only goes to the room to sleep and shower, you might as well have a room with bunk beds. If noise is an issue, don't book a balcony over the promenade deck, which is wider than your deck. People will be walking around just below the balcony (they can see you if they look up) and you can hear all the partying. It's very annoying at night when those late-night/all-night types are still shouting and laughing, even with the balcony door shut. The doors are loud when they close and often rattle as well. If the people in the room next door keep going back and forth to/from the balcony, the slamming of their door will drive you crazy if you are trying to sleep. The balconies are divided by a little partition so if you are unlucky enough to get a cabin near someone who likes to hang out on their balcony and make noise, you can't escape.

 

The cabins on Carnival are the largest of it's class and quite comfortable. The beds are great! Don't choose a cabin near an elevator or in a location where everybody on that level must walk past your room. People are noisy in the hallways. Don't choose a room under or over a lounge if you go to bed earlier in the evening. You WILL hear the music. Don't choose a cabin under the fitness center or track if you like to sleep late. You will hear loud feet. Cabins in the middle, lower on the ship, are better if you don't like to feel motion. (Not that you will, really. They are so smooth that we didn't realize we were moving until we noticed a slight sway of the toilet paper in the bathroom!) But in case you run into rougher seas, you might be happier in the middle on a lower deck. We've been pleased with cabins both in the front of the ship and in the back - and prefer to be down at the end of the corridor with hardly any hallway traffic. It's a few more steps to the elevator but worth it for the quiet. But, if you are in a cabin on a deck with a small outside observation area (no chairs provided by the way) you will get lots of hallway & door noise from people going in and out. It's particularly popular when arriving or leaving a port.

 

We didn't notice any more motion or noise in a front cabin but heard more from the propulsion system in a back cabin. We found that cabins on the Veranda deck are convenient...it's a quick walk down the outside stairs to the Lido deck...but definitely noticed quite a bit more motion, outside noise, vibration and rattling in our balcony cabin. Being higher up made a big difference when the ship was on the move.

 

In the end, each cabin has it's good and not so perfect features. It comes down to your preferences and how much money you want to spend. We generally prefer an inside cabin since we are only there to sleep, but depending on the ports and time of year, may get a balcony. If we are traveling with people who will be meeting up or spending time in our room, a junior suite with it's additional sofa seating comes in handy. There's not enough room for 4 on the balcony unless you are standing shoulder to shoulder and it's awkward for everyone to sit on the bed.

 

Have fun choosing!

 

OP: splurge for a balcony! You will love it!

 

Sandra, like you, we discovered cruising somewhat late in life. And I'm not picking on you, but:

 

The first sentence I bolded (blue) above doesn't make much sense to me. Can you explain that, please?

 

As for the smoking comment, are they changing the policy? :confused: Smoking is allowed in the cabin.

 

Don't any of the balcony cabins on this ship have sofas?

 

Also, bunk beds don't sound like much fun for an anniversary celebration. :D

[PenguinLife]

We will be going on our second cruise aboard Ecstasy next week, cabin location choice is a personal matter, if seasickness and money are not issues I would pick one of the balconies on the Verandah deck, as a second choice I would pick a mid-ship or forward ocean view or balcony cabin on the Empress deck, somewhere near (but not too near) the base of the grand stairway (there is a music / piano bar there).

 

Ike

[MusicCruizer]

I definitely agree. Splurge and get the balcony! You will not regret it. :)

[k2excursion]

I'll be in the minority and say that I didn't see much value in having a balcony. It was nice, but we rarely used it. So we went back to insides or "insides" (classified as insides but have an outside view). Our splurging would be to go for an oceanview. It's all about you & your personality. If you think you'll be out and about plenty, and taking part in (or watching) lots of activities, I'd say to save your money and not do a balcony. If you like lots of alone time, just the 2 of you, maybe go for a balcony. We're usually out and about, so we like to save money on the room.

 

For ship location, on Ecstasy, I like the Upper deck on that class of ship. There are only rooms (no public spaces) both above and below you. Cuts down on noise. With Empress deck, there could be a few trouble spots, with what's above you. Midship is great, for cutting down on motion. But also, it's a central location, so no super long walks from one end of the ship to the other. If you don't think motion sickness will be an issue, you could look into getting a room in the very back of the ship, looking out over the wake. They have oceanview rooms on the bottom 2 decks, & balconies on Upper & Empress in the very back. Many people love that view.

[ticka1]

We are going on our 1st cruise on the Ecstaty in 43 days for our 12th wedding anniversary - I booked a balcony on the Upper Deck. Its midship. Its a splurge for us!

 

I picked this cabin after reading several reviews and posting questions here on Cruise Critic. Now to try it out in 43 days!

[capndinghy]

I would suggest an Ocean View. The problem with Balconies on the Ecstasy is that they are very expensive because there are so few of them on that size ship. I realize that they did add some additional balconies during the recent refit. The balconies on the larger ships are only about $100 additional and well worth it because the larger ships were designed with more balcony rooms.

 

Perhaps you might reconsider a 7 day trip on the Conquest out of Galveston. I bet a balcony on the Conquest and a 7 day is about the same cost as a Balcony on the 5 day Ecstasy Voyage.