Ecstacy review, 10/4/12-10/8/12

[Mrs.C05]

First off let me apologize for not getting this up sooner! I had it all typed in a word document, but then work got busy and my 7.5 month old son got sick. All is well now and life is back to normal. Yay!

 

Background: My husband and I are cruise-fanatics, as you can see how many we've been on, and one day plan to include our son in the joy of cruising. For now though, he stays with family. I'm 28 and my husband is 32, and Ethan is almost 8 months old (was 7 months when we went).

 

Let me just say first that this isn't a very detailed, gotta do everything review. We pretty much relaxed and enjoyed the leisure of not having to do anything.

 

Here we go!

[Mrs.C05]

The day has finally arrived for our cruise!! We drop Ethan off with Patti, a sweet woman who is like a 2nd Mom to me at 12noon. We stay a short bit before we head out, knowing we should be meeting my Dad and his gf, Maria right now at our house. We agreed on parking at the cruise terminal because in the end, we all just want to get to the car and leave, me especially. We arrive to our house, grab our luggage and we're off! Breath in, breathe out. A little background: I am a stay at home working Mom so I have my son with me all the time, and this is the first time we have left him for an extended amount of time. This sweet boy is our 7 month old "little man".

The drive to the terminal took us right at an hour and didn't have any problems. Well, there was this one girl with her friend that cut us off to get one car length ahead of us (they cut the beach line down to one lane briefly). Crazy girl!! Then we joked she was going on the cruise with us. Later down the road, we see her in front of us when we pull thru the gates for parking. Suddenly she does an abrupt u-turn, ack! Outta our way lady!!!

Dad parks the car, we wait for him and we jump in line. From start to finish, it took all of 30 minutes before we stepped foot on the boat. Yay! Here are a few pics from the ship.

<a href="http://s260.beta.photobucket.com/user/kcrenshaw2005/library/Cruises/October%202012%20cruise" target="_blank"><img src="http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii17/kcrenshaw2005/Cruises/October%202012%20cruise/553584_10151277215249458_2098475204_n.jpg" border="0" alt="Water park for the kids, and the adults who want to be kids."/></a>

<a href="http://s260.beta.photobucket.com/user/kcrenshaw2005/library/Cruises/October%202012%20cruise" target="_blank"><img src="http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii17/kcrenshaw2005/Cruises/October%202012%20cruise/429374_10151277214989458_1919102750_n.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>

<a href="http://s260.beta.photobucket.com/user/kcrenshaw2005/library/Cruises/October%202012%20cruise" target="_blank"><img src="http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii17/kcrenshaw2005/Cruises/October%202012%20cruise/429374_10151277214989458_1919102750_n.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>

[Mrs.C05]

The day has finally arrived for our cruise!! We drop Ethan off with Patti, a sweet woman who is like a 2nd Mom to me at 12noon. We stay a short bit before we head out, knowing we should be meeting my Dad and his gf, Maria right now at our house. We agreed on parking at the cruise terminal because in the end, we all just want to get to the car and leave, me especially. We arrive to our house, grab our luggage and we're off! Breath in, breathe out. A little background: I am a stay at home working Mom so I have my son with me all the time, and this is the first time we have left him for an extended amount of time. This sweet boy is our 7 month old "little man".

 

The drive to the terminal took us right at an hour and didn't have any problems. Well, there was this one girl with her friend that cut us off to get one car length ahead of us (they cut the beach line down to one lane briefly). Crazy girl!! Then we joked she was going on the cruise with us. Later down the road, we see her in front of us when we pull thru the gates for parking. Suddenly she does an abrupt u-turn, ack! Outta our way lady!!!

 

Dad parks the car, we wait for him and we jump in line. From start to finish, it took all of 30 minutes before we stepped foot on the boat. Yay! Here are a few pics from the ship.

 

 

 

 

We grab lunch, which of course is a packed mad house. I get some baked chicken, pork penne and some potatoes. I also grabbed some caramel cheesecake. Oh!man! That is delicious!! After eating we head down to the rooms for a bit, not for long though with the mandatory muster drill being ordered. They had us in a lounge while they spoke and demonstrated but then moved us outside in front of our lifeboat. That was a bit hot. Thankfully it wasn't long, and then with the sound of the horn, we all looked like ants marching to one destination. IT'S SAILAWAY TIME!!

Bye-bye Port Canaveral!

 

 

Up to the top deck by the water park, we find a spot, order some drinks and enjoy the moment. Honestly, I am not nearly excited as I usually am, but am ok. I know Ethan is in excellent care.

 

[Mrs.C05]

 

 

After sail away, we head back to the room to unpack. While unpacking, we get a slip under the door saying we have a $40 onboard credit thanks to "early saver protection". I had submitted a form for it before we left but was told since I booked it through our credit card, we couldn't get it. So yes, I will take that!

 

^^^This paid for calling home to our son.

 

However, coming across my voucher (just now) from our Future Cruise Credit, since we called it in and submitted, the $50 OBC we were suppose to get, never was applied. I’m pretty bummed about it, especially since I didn’t remember to double check, and that the credit card “Sea Miles” from Chase, no longer exist. *sigh. Oh well, from now on we’ll be strictly booking with Carnival.

 

That night was just order room service since we had a late lunch. I order the chicken fajita wrap and DH orders the NY strip sandwich. He said his was pretty good but probably wouldn't order it again. I stayed in the room reading my mag and playing on the tablet while DH went down to the casino. He lost $100 in a matter of 15 minutes. No thanks, that's not how I like to lose money. Well I don't know anyone that likes to lose money, haha.

We were in bed by 11pm.

[Mrs.C05]

We have a sleepful night and wake up at 7am on the nose. I wake up being fully prepared to continue my Mommy-mode routine from home, but kinda makes me sad once I remember where I am. I get up and call Patti to check in and as I figured, he has been an angel. Seriously.

We grab breakfast, which consists of an omelet, bacon and potato rounds, before going upstairs to walk. We get some loops in before I remember to find the coin. I found it, right where someone said it was. I find it odd they used a quarter and a penny, instead of a silver dollar looking coin. Oh well! We dock in Nassau around 9:30am and they start letting people off right at 10am.

This is outside our porthole, kind of a cool view:

Paradise Island:

The plan today was to get some conch salad for Maria and then head to Atlantis.

 

We did just that. Dh and I tried some fresh fish from Daffny’s, which is under the bridge coming out of Paradise Island. Her food is soooo delish! We finish eating and we walk up and over the bridge to Atlantis. It looks like a long walk but it really isn't. Maybe that's because Dh and I walk 2-3 miles at home each night with Ethan? Once we got into Atlantis, everyone went to the Craps table. Everyone rolled really well. In the end Dh won back what he lost from last night and the money he threw down today as well. Yay dh!

Walking over the bridge to get to Paradise Island:

We quit while we're up and decide to go back to the ship. Looking back we should have gone back the way we came because the lady out front of Atlantis was a bit rude. When walking in, we came around back by Johnny Rockets' and in the side of Atlantis. My Dad asked for a taxi to the ships, and she mumbled something. Dad let it go and waited. 5 minutes passed so I spoke up and asked if she was getting us a taxi or not. She said yes he is coming right now. We waited another couple minutes before one finally pulls up, from where it was sitting a few cars back. I really don't know what is so hard about that but whatever. A short ride back and we're being let out in front of the gates at the ship.

Dad and Maria get back on the ship, but DH and I want to find something for Ethan. Eventually we settle on a shirt because that was really all they had for babies that we found. We stopped in Senor Frogs but now that I know there is one in Orlando, I didn't want to wait the 45 minutes. We leave from there; I grab a Diet Dr. Pepper and drink it on the way to the ship.

The line was long to get back through the terminal, but we weren't in a hurry.

Walking back to the ship: We were in Carnival land with how many Carnival ships were in port with us. See?

[Mrs.C05]

Walking back to the ship:

I was starving but glad we saved the $50 or so we would’ve spent at Senor Frogs. We grabbed some lunch once back onboard. I got the Mongolian Wok. Just in time too because they put up "buffet closed" 2 people behind me. Dh got a cheeseburger, chicken fingers and fries. Finished up eating and then came back to the room to shower. ::sigh:: I feel refreshed now!

I did some review while DH took a nap. Dad got our dinner time changed since we had a very late lunch. Tonight was elegant night so that meant lobster tail, and they didn't want to miss it. Everyone ordered it, including me. Dh knew I wasn't going to like it so I ordered a back up. I ordered their spring rolls, a side salad, a lobster tail and as a backup, I ordered the sirloin. Yep, DH was right, I didn't like it. It’s the texture of it that didn't suit me. Bleh!! The sirloin however was very good.

 

Here we are waiting on dinner to open up:

 

 

After dinner, we headed to the craps table that was once again cold and slow. It has been a $10 table the whole time, which we have never seen before on a cruise. It wasn't long after that that we headed back to the room. Dh and I watched some of The Voice we had put on our tablet (to finish watching).

[Mrs.C05]

We wake up at 7:30am, I call Patti to check on Ethan (and he is still fine, lol) and then we head up to get some breakfast. Omelets, bacon and pancakes for DH and me. Then we head back to the room to pack up to go on the island later. We didn't arrive until 9am, but we didn't get off until 10:30. HMC is as beautiful as I remembered, with a few new "attractions". They have added a pirate ship bar called "captain Morgan island bar" and a tiki bar. We got monkeyhead drinks (thinking back, this was a rip of $14.95/ea but whatever, we're on vacation) and then into the crystal clear blue water. Dad and Maria loved it. Just beware where you step; there was what looked like horse poo. Ick!

Pulling into HMC:

My lens was foggy….

View from our chairs:

[Mrs.C05]

And a picture of the new (don’t know how new) Captain Morgan Island Bar they built:

Our ship:

 

Once we started smelling food, we went on a hunt to find it. They practically send you on a maze to find it, weaving all through the bricked paved shrubs and mini-pavilions. I got a burger, chips & salsa and some kind of broccoli salad. All of it was good. Then we headed back to our chairs, got refills for our drinks $7.50/ea and went back in the water a bit.

 

 

 

I was getting tired and Dad was getting fried so we headed back at about 1:30. Besides the Gator game was coming on at 3:30. Once we got back to our room, it was into the shower. I was all itchy from the saltwater but not long. Then we took a quick nap before Dad called to say he was headed to find a TV for the game. We decided to get up, make drinks and head down. Maria said tonight was grouper in the MDR, so I think we're going there for dinner. I love being waited on while on cruises, haha.

We went to dinner but it wasn't very good. I didn’t like the sound of how the grouper came/was cooked so I just got chicken noodle soup for a starter, and some kind of turkey with scalloped potatoes and veggies. They also brought out fried shrimp and fries as “extras” so I chomped those down, haha!

Side note: There are a lot of kids/teens on this cruise and I am surprised at how little the girls’ shorts are. If I had a daughter, she'd be wearing jeans all the time! Now I know I was once there, but now that I am a Mom, uh uh! Lol.

Here is our towel animal from today, the only picture I took of all of them. Sorry!

Tomorrow is Fun Day at Sea.

 

[Mrs.C05]

We woke up a little late, at about 8am. I wanted to use our free drink coupon so I "pretty pleased" my husband to go down to the MDR for breakfast. We ordered eggs, hasbrowns, sausage, french toast and pancakes. All was ok. I was expecting better since it was the dining room but it really wasn't.

All we wanted to do today was relax, play put-put and hangout on deck with the music. We achieved all on our checklist, including winning some money in the casino. Now we are back in the room relaxing, packing and watching football. Man I can't wait to see my little man tomorrow!!!

Lunch was the buffet. They had a really good pot-roast and mashed potatoes, which is what I had. We had a snack of french fries while listening to the music on the lido deck. Tonight for dinner is Mahi-Mahi so we'll be going down there.

The weather today was beautiful. Put-put was on everyone's mind since a lot of people were playing.

Tidbit: Our room was on the Upper deck, room U12. It was a good location. We are above the ropes and anchors but we were awake whenever we anchored up somewhere. The noise wasn't a problem. Our room steward, Inid was fantastic! He was very cheerful, always greeted us by name and had our ice when we wanted it.

Me and Inid:

We mainly relaxed today since we knew we’d be in high gear tomorrow getting back in the grove of reality. I will finally get to see Ethan! Yay! Dad and Maria went to the MDR for lunch to use our free coupon for any beverage in value of $9 or less.

 

So we went with them to the MDR but the Maitr’D came out and said if you want to just cash in y our coupon, you can. So they were the only one’s that did that. Matr’D had a bar guy come over to take their order but it took a while to get the drinks. Oh well.

Here we are waiting on it looking at the atruim:

[Mrs.C05]

This is when my Dad and DH got pretty hot on the craps table. It was just us and a few other people. My husband won a good amount of money, plus the money he brought to gamble with. Here is some of his winnings:

Dinner in the MDR was so-so. The Mahi was a little over cooked, but can certainly understand why. I got their crabcakes and also their tomato and mozzarella for a starter, and then their mahi for the entrée. I was too full to have WCMC! Can you believe that? My Dad wasn’t feeling good so he skipped dinner. Once Maria was done she excused herself to go check on Dad. We didn’t stay long after that.

DH wanted to check out the casino and it was actually pretty hot. But he cashed in his winnings from before already and wanted to take home what he won, so we went and grabbed ice cream instead. Since we knew we’d be getting up early to self-disembark, we called it a night. Back in the room, we double checked we had everything and packed up last minute things.

[kmc500]

Tomorrow is Fun Day at Sea.

 

Enjoying the review, thanks.

 

I was surprised to hear that the craps table was $10. I've never seen that on a Carnival cruise. Did it remain that way throughout the cruise? Was the table busy?

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Kevin C

[4hunters]

Great review. I'm somewhat concerned about the craps table being $10 min. I hope this isn't a new trend with Carnival. They've always been $5 minimum on the craps table in the past.

[Mrs.C05]

EDITOR'S NOTE: I spelled Ecstasy wrong in the title and screwed up the first post. My apologies!!

[Mrs.C05]

Great review. I'm somewhat concerned about the craps table being $10 min. I hope this isn't a new trend with Carnival. They've always been $5 minimum on the craps table in the past.

 

Yes we agree!! Never have we seen it being a $10 table and the reason that it was so slow was probably because of it being $10 instead of $5.

 

Black Jack we noticed was a $6 table sometimes, other times it was $10 as well.

[Moobaby214]

Yes we agree!! Never have we seen it being a $10 table and the reason that it was so slow was probably because of it being $10 instead of $5.

 

Black Jack we noticed was a $6 table sometimes, other times it was $10 as well.

 

Great review! Have definitely enjoyed it :)

 

I've noticed on formal nights they raise the minimums on the table games. Participation goes down too because of it...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tomsuelaw]

Thanks so much for the review and beautiful pics. We are sailing the Fascination soon. We have U10 booked so I am so pleased to hear you did not have issues with your room. Just a few questions:

 

1. Was there alot of movement in the room being so far fwd?

 

2. We too are leaving our little ones behind and will need to keep in touch. Did you use the room phone to keep in touch and if so, how much did it cost? Any useful hints or ideas for keeping in touch?

 

Thanks again, great job!!!

[gbphatcat]

great review THANKS for posting, there is so little info out there on the Ecstasy, so its good to see recent reviews :)

[jobell]

Happy to see your review!!! We were in U17. lol.

 

Was bummed we never connected and always looked for you...glad Ethan is feeling better.

 

:)

[Chelleum]

Great review!! I will be on the Ecstasy in 9 days.

[Mrs.C05]

Thanks so much for the review and beautiful pics. We are sailing the Fascination soon. We have U10 booked so I am so pleased to hear you did not have issues with your room. Just a few questions:

 

1. Was there alot of movement in the room being so far fwd?

 

2. We too are leaving our little ones behind and will need to keep in touch. Did you use the room phone to keep in touch and if so, how much did it cost? Any useful hints or ideas for keeping in touch?

 

Thanks again, great job!!!

 

No issues at all with the location of the room. Movement wasn't bad at all. The only exception was the sound of them releasing the anchor out but the itinerary we were on, we docked late and left early.

De

We used the room phone to call home and was only $1.99/min, compared to 2.99/min with our cell phone plus having to go up to the top deck to get reception. It can get expensive, so try to keep the convo's short.

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

[RedbirdFL]

Hi from a fellow Orlando cruiser! Thanks for the review! DD and I will be going on the Ecstasy in January for her 21st birthday. I loved seeing all the pics.

 

Sure wish we were going to HMC. Our 4 day itinerary has us going to Nassau and Freeport. Would love to go to HMC instead of Freeport.

[tomsuelaw]

No issues at all with the location of the room. Movement wasn't bad at all. The only exception was the sound of them releasing the anchor out but the itinerary we were on, we docked late and left early.

De

We used the room phone to call home and was only $1.99/min, compared to 2.99/min with our cell phone plus having to go up to the top deck to get reception. It can get expensive, so try to keep the convo's short.

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for the info! Wow, only $1.99/min? I was actually expecting it to be more then that. :o We really won't need to talk long just more for checking in so that should work out ok.

[LOVECRUISING100%]

We have a sleepful night and wake up at 7am on the nose. I wake up being fully prepared to continue my Mommy-mode routine from home, but kinda makes me sad once I remember where I am. I get up and call Patti to check in and as I figured, he has been an angel. Seriously.

We grab breakfast, which consists of an omelet, bacon and potato rounds, before going upstairs to walk. We get some loops in before I remember to find the coin. I found it, right where someone said it was. I find it odd they used a quarter and a penny, instead of a silver dollar looking coin. Oh well! We dock in Nassau around 9:30am and they start letting people off right at 10am.

This is outside our porthole, kind of a cool view:

Paradise Island:

The plan today was to get some conch salad for Maria and then head to Atlantis.

 

We did just that. Dh and I tried some fresh fish from Daffny’s, which is under the bridge coming out of Paradise Island. Her food is soooo delish! We finish eating and we walk up and over the bridge to Atlantis. It looks like a long walk but it really isn't. Maybe that's because Dh and I walk 2-3 miles at home each night with Ethan? Once we got into Atlantis, everyone went to the Craps table. Everyone rolled really well. In the end Dh won back what he lost from last night and the money he threw down today as well. Yay dh!

Walking over the bridge to get to Paradise Island:

We quit while we're up and decide to go back to the ship. Looking back we should have gone back the way we came because the lady out front of Atlantis was a bit rude. When walking in, we came around back by Johnny Rockets' and in the side of Atlantis. My Dad asked for a taxi to the ships, and she mumbled something. Dad let it go and waited. 5 minutes passed so I spoke up and asked if she was getting us a taxi or not. She said yes he is coming right now. We waited another couple minutes before one finally pulls up, from where it was sitting a few cars back. I really don't know what is so hard about that but whatever. A short ride back and we're being let out in front of the gates at the ship.

Dad and Maria get back on the ship, but DH and I want to find something for Ethan. Eventually we settle on a shirt because that was really all they had for babies that we found. We stopped in Senor Frogs but now that I know there is one in Orlando, I didn't want to wait the 45 minutes. We leave from there; I grab a Diet Dr. Pepper and drink it on the way to the ship.

The line was long to get back through the terminal, but we weren't in a hurry.

Walking back to the ship: We were in Carnival land with how many Carnival ships were in port with us. See?

Loved the Porthole pic's!! Hopefully i'll be able to get my own in Dec .. Thanks for posting !!

[jamona2311]

Oh this review brought back memories. Don't think I missed it as much as I do now...~sigh~

 

Seriously tho, thanks for posting. Sounds like you got just what you needed from this cruise. A nice relaxing time. :)

[SoCalKJ]

Great review!! I will be on the Ecstasy in 9 days.

 

Single Digit Moon Walk!