My Review Ecstasy SuperBowl Cruise

[WestTxCruiser]

This was our 7th Carnival cruise, 3rd time on Ecstasy and we have been on the Conquest 4 times. I am 50, hubby is 48. We had 2 couples from Odessa with us who are Newbies, my friend Tina who cruised with us in June on the Conquest and my BFF Leslie who is from Borger and a whole bunch of Crazies.

 

Leslie was orginally suppose to meet up with us at Hobby, but due to weather conditions in Dallas she was able to change her flight and her hubby drove her the 6 hours from Borger to Odessa and she flew out with us.

 

We flew in the day before the cruise, which was the day Houston got hit by an ice storm. Needless to say that rattled my nerves just a bit.

 

We had a 6:10pm flight out of Midland/Odessa. About noonish that day we were told by a friend who works for Southwest that the flight had been delayed until 8:50pm. Then for whatever reason about 20 minutes later it was back to the original time.

At this point, I think I started drinking......cuz I wasn't driving.

 

We ended up being delayed until about 7:45. No biggie, we paid $8 per beer at the airport bar. :eek:

Kinda makes you appreciate Carnivals prices, huh?:rolleyes:

 

We arrived at Hobby about 9pm, we had reserved 2 rental cars from Enterprise for our party of 8. These were one way, to be turned in Sat morning in Galveston before boarding the ship, then re-renting on Thursday when debarking the ship.

The price per car from Hobby to Galveston was $86, and Galveston back to Hobby was $47. It was very easy and was nice having a car once we got to Galveston.

 

We stayed at Casa del Mar Resort. It was okay, but found it very difficult getting luggage from car to room. You had to go up the elevator, then down this hall, then another hall thru a door.....was a challenge with all our luggage.

The rooms were fine and the price was only $105.

 

We arrived at the port at 9:30 Sat morning, dropped luggage and 6 passengers off, then other 2 took rental back to Enterprise. They took a cab back to the port. Enterprise does not operate a shuttle to the Port of Galveston, according to Enterprise they would be fined big bucks by the port if they did.

The cab was easy and only $12.

 

While the guys took the cars back the rest of us went upstairs to the first seating area.

There was only one person seated at that time, and she happened to be a Crazie!

About 10:30 the Wedding parties and the VIP's went thru security and we followed.

 

We had 7 bottles of champagne/wine in a rolling suitcase.....for our party of 8. No problems....they did not even open the bag. We also had a bag with some cokes in it, the guy opened it asked me what was at the bottom I told him and off we went.

 

We were checked in and waiting in Zone 1 ready to board before 11am.

We were onboard having our first drink and food on Lido shortly after 11:30.

 

The rest of my review is just gonna be my thoughts/opinions on various things.

 

We were in Cabin M263, one of the new balconies on Main Deck, last AFT cabin Starboard side. We felt like it was a little smaller than some of the other cabins we have been in. Not sure why, but seemed smaller.

 

Our Room Steward, Ernesto was attentive to all our needs. We had packed 2 collapsable coolers which he kept full of ice every day.

We also had some Rum Runners that succesfully made it to our cabin.

Out of our party of 8, 2 Rum Runners were confiscated from a suitcase that had nothing but clothes in it. Go figure.

 

We had 8:15 dining in WindSong, Table 325. I honestly cannot tell you what our waiters name was. He really did not make an impression on me.

The service was very slow, we seemed to be the last table to be served every night.

My hubby and I thought the food was good but not great.....the beef dishes that we ordered were lacking taste and all were tough.

We never saw the Maitre'D.

Bitter N Blanc was AWESOME!!!

 

I ate the pizza several times and it was never cooked to my liking......the dough was always gooey.

 

Mongolian Grill was great, and Deli was great.

 

We at breakfast at the buffet every morning and got our omelette cooked our way, it was always good.

 

As for the Entertainment, we thought the music was lacking......compared to what we had on the Conquest in June it just didn't compare.

One of our Crazies sang and she was GREAT. I could have listened to her the entire cruise!!! Go Nutty!!!!

 

The Extreme Country show was very good, and I can't say enough great things about Steve, the fiddle playing Cruise Director. He does an awesome job.

 

 

The Casino was very good to me on Three Card Poker. Not so good to my hubby on Blackjack.

We spent a lot more time in the Casino this time because the weather on sea days was not warm enough for us to do our usual lay out thing.

No biggie, cuz Momma WAS A WINNER!!!! Daddy was a LOSER!!!!!

 

We participated in the Crazies Cabin/Poker Crawl and Cocktail Party. Thats always fun, if your with a group try and organize events like these.

 

We loved the upgrades to the Ecstasy, this was our first time on her since she was in drydock.....they did good!!

 

In Progreso we did the double decker bus and hung out on the beach......and got an hour massage for $20. It was awesome!!!!!! WE LOVE PROGRESO!!!

 

In Cozumel we did Nachi. It was cloudy when we first got there then it cleared up and the sun came out. I am a big water weenie, so therefore I did not enter the water past my ankles. Wish the hot tub had been warm enough to be a hot tub......but it was okay.....we had lots of fun, drinks were flowing and food was great.....and company was great!!

This was our 4th time to go to Nachi!!

 

Debarkation is debarkation. We got off the ship about 10am (latest we have ever gotten off). We never heard any announcements for the longest time.....not sure why it was so slow, we have never experienced that before.

Once off the ship we got 2 cabs for our party of 8, went to Enterprise and picked up our rental cars.

It was very easy.

 

My overall opinion, it was a GREAT cruise. Would we do it again.......You DAMBETCHA, in a heartbeat!!!!

 

Oh and a side note here, a couple of the Newbies in our group suffer from motion sickness, they used the patch and were all fine....they are hooked and ready to do it again. We had a couple days that were pretty rough.

We slept with our balcony door open each night and the last night about 4am.....OMG.....freezing COLD. What a rude awakening, not suppose to be in the 20's in Galveston.

 

I feel like I am still on the ship, having some good Mal De Debarkement going on this time.

 

Happy Sailing To All!!!!

[floatingaway2525]

And best of all we actually, really, finally, got to sail together!!!:D

Excellent summary Julie!!:D Can't wait to do it again next year!!!:p

[MacysMimi]

Awesome job Julie!!!

 

It was SO fun, wasn't it??? LOL

 

It was great meeting all you friendly folks....it made for a really fun cruise!

[Meyer2]

Great review! Glad you guys all had such a great time!

[LambKnuckles]

Great!!! Julie... You know, we were all on the same cruise and from such different perspectives, we all had our own personal cruise experiences!!! I think THAT is what makes a cruise so wonderful!!!

 

It's personal to each of us and we all enjoy and seek out different facets of what's available!!!

[T. Advisor King]

I thought it was funny that you didn't mention the game in your review even though it was in your thread title.

[WestTxCruiser]

And best of all we actually, really, finally, got to sail together!!!:D

 

Excellent summary Julie!!:D Can't wait to do it again next year!!!:p

Yep, it was great sailing with you....FINALLY.....the little tease that we got in Key West, well it was nice....but we needed MORE Floatie!!! And we got to meet Momma Floatie!!!!!

[WestTxCruiser]

Awesome job Julie!!!

 

It was SO fun, wasn't it??? LOL

 

It was great meeting all you friendly folks....it made for a really fun cruise!

Funny that you were that first person sitting in the waiting area, and we didn't know it was you for a little while....I went to talk to Lambie and came back and Leslie said I think thats Sharon.....lol!!!:)

[CrazieNCruisingGypsy2]

Love you and miss you girl!

 

Just think of where we were a week ago!

 

And thank you for introducing me to Tina! God Blessed me and gave me another BFF!

[WestTxCruiser]

Great review! Glad you guys all had such a great time!

We did have a great time!

 

Great!!! Julie... You know, we were all on the same cruise and from such different perspectives, we all had our own personal cruise experiences!!! I think THAT is what makes a cruise so wonderful!!!

 

It's personal to each of us and we all enjoy and seek out different facets of what's available!!!

You know Lambie, if we were all alike, that would be pretty boring...right? :rolleyes::p

Our Newbies LOVED it all, they did the Chichen Itza Ruins in Progreso, they Zip Lined in Cozumel, then went to Paradise Beach, they ate at Torro's and shopped in the San Miguel area in Coz.......they had a blast and can't wait to do it again.

We all had so much fun and made lots of new friends.

I can't wait for some Magic!!

[WestTxCruiser]

Love you and miss you girl!

 

Just think of where we were a week ago!

 

And thank you for introducing me to Tina! God Blessed me and gave me another BFF!

We can never have too many BFF's!! I knew ya'll would make great Roomie's!!

You never know when you book with a STRANGE!:eek:

Love ya, BFF!

[CrazieNCruisingGypsy2]

We can never have too many BFF's!! I knew ya'll would make great Roomie's!!

You never know when you book with a STRANGE!:eek:

Love ya, BFF!

I feel like I've known her forever!!

 

Hope you get better soon, Jules!! Love you!

[LBumb]

thanks for review

[XTEACH281]

We can never have too many BFF's!! I knew ya'll would make great Roomie's!!

You never know when you book with a STRANGE!:eek:

Love ya, BFF!

 

Hey...look at the chance Andy took when he let our son (whose USCG specialty school got changed at the last minute, and got to cruise) share a cabin with him ...and now it's been three cruises as roomies...and they are a killer team :D

[MacysMimi]

Funny that you were that first person sitting in the waiting area, and we didn't know it was you for a little while....I went to talk to Lambie and came back and Leslie said I think thats Sharon.....lol!!!:)

 

That's me......first in line....I was just so doggone anxious to get there that I went off and forgot Di at the hotel:eek: Thank goodness she caught a ride.....And it was nice for me to have some crazies sitting by me....I hadn't met anyone before the trip except for Bill and Lanie!

[WestTxCruiser]

Hey...look at the chance Andy took when he let our son (whose USCG specialty school got changed at the last minute, and got to cruise) share a cabin with him ...and now it's been three cruises as roomies...and they are a killer team :D

I remember that first cruise, last minute when Andy stepped up and let Jesse room with him......now look at them.:rolleyes::eek::p

[WestTxCruiser]

I thought it was funny that you didn't mention the game in your review even though it was in your thread title.

Oops.....I forgot to mention that.:o

We watched the game in the Blue Sapphire Lounge for a while, but had a big pole in our view:( then we decided to go up to Lido, where we sat at the bar on the Non Smoking side.....only problem, the bar was closed. :confused:

We had late dining, so went to dinner and did not see the end of the game....but we all know who won. :)

[sixgun8]

Julie?? you remember stuff from the cruise??? LOL

[WestTxCruiser]

Julie?? you remember stuff from the cruise??? LOL

lol!!! Just barely, Six!!:p

[CrazieNCruisingGypsy2]

lol!!! Just barely, Six!!:p

 

The night of the Super Bowl is the only night that's "Fuzzy" for me!

[LambKnuckles]

Julie?? you remember stuff from the cruise??? LOL

 

lol!!! Just barely, Six!!:p

 

The photos are my memory joggers... and my smile makers!!! I love remembering all the FUN FUN FUN!!!

 

So Julie... let me tell you all about your cruise... It started with you climbing to the top of the flagpole... Then when you did a jockey-raid on the Captain's quarters... And when you mooned Steve, the cruise director...

 

Hee hee hee... HONESTLY... I love to cruise with you! You always enjoy yourself and share that happiness!!!