Carnival Ecstasy 13/03/25-13/3/2

[Wrinks22]

I have been off the beautiful Carnival Ecstasy for a few days and I already miss it. I boarded with mixed feelings. Hopefully this review will convince those on the edge. What you should know that this review is written in various perspectives. (DH, DW, DS1, DS2)

 

Day 1: Us Canadians like to go on cruises too. Airfare is just two expensive from Toronto to Port Canaveral so we drove. We left at 8:30 from the west end of Toronto. (Etobicoke) and stopped at 11pm ish at the Hampton Inn in Cleveland Tennessee. The hotel was only a week old and it was very nice. For example when we went to check in the man at the desk was having trouble seeing what rooms were available. After 15 minutes of finally figuring out the new system he said we can have the room for free and help ourselves to a few items at the snack bar. We picked up a small ice cream treat and mouthwash. The room was large, new, and clean. The breakfast was standard on the rode fair.

 

Day 2: We drove from 9am ish to 10pm ish. We stayed at the Hampton Inn CoCoa beach. We booked it because we were so impressed with the first one. Sadly we were a little let down. Firstly the hotel was run down. We understand wear and tear and that being by the ocean damages it but some stuff was unacceptable. The room was small and the bathroom was dingy. The balcony was nice. There was blood on the sheets and several stains on the pull out couch. Kudo’s to the staff, they tried to resolve the issue and were actually helping people at breakfast. DH and DS2 woke up earlier then the rest of us and went to the beach. You walk down a pathway to the beach. It is well maintained. The water was a little cool but nice compared to TO’s freezing rain. We got the first glimpse of the ship and one of the Majesty RCCL ships. They offer a free shuttle to and from the terminal but for family reasons we chose not to do it. (1 member of our party DW is staying in Florida for another week)

[Wrinks22]

Day 3: We drove to the terminal it was around 12 minutes away. We found the signing a little bit confusing but 1/2 of our party is directionally impaired. We gave the porters all our bags (not carry on) and tipped $1 a bag. DS1 and DH parked the car while DS2 and DW stayed by the door of the terminal with all our carry on stuff. DS2 and DH are ship buffs so they were really excited. They walked to the back of the terminal and luckily when they were there the big gate was open so they got some great pics of the aft of the ship. We were in a suite so we got priority embarkation. It was honestly the easiest boarding I remember.

You walk in a separate line

Show them your priority pass & passports

Go metal detected

Walk into a nice room with big leather chairs to get your room key.

The whole thing takes ten minutes. After you get your room keys you walk out the side of the room where photographers take your picture. You go up an escalator and get your picture taken. Then you walk through some hallways and then you get to the gangway. The gangway was very nice. It looked new and was air-conditioned. The second you walk in, you see the multi deck atrium. Like I say, nothing says tacky like brass, neon, and glass elevators. :) One of my initial impressions of the ship was the low ceilings. (More on that later) We were on the ship at 11:10 ish so it was pretty empty still. We broke the rules and found our stateroom U108. It was not completely made up but we through are carry ones in. We met our steward Ida (I miss him!) and we gave him a small tip and asked for a few things:

-separate the king bed

-extra towels.

-extra two robes

The first and third were done that night. I was happy. Although I think there was a language barrier with the towels but another steward shoed DS2 a cabinet beside our door with towels. We got lost because the hallways were closed off with the fire doors to prevent eager passengers to get to their staterooms. We made it out eventually :) We ate lunch at the deli at the aft of deck 10. Not many people seemed to know about the two “wings” on the back of the ship. There were outdoor triangular decks at the back corners of the ship on deck 10. There were several free tables there despite the rest of the deck being mobbed. The deli was really good. DS1 and DW called home and sat on the water while DS2 and DH explored a little bit. For the first time ever we did not go on the top deck for sail away. Somehow we missed it. In fact the only way we knew we had left is when DS2 said, “Sh*t we are moving!” From our balcony we danced a little bit to the Beyonce being played overhead at the party. I will talk about the food probably later but we were very happy with the food and service. Sorry if this sounds racist- the Pilipino wait staff were a delight as usual. The hostesses April and Elena? were terrific. We had great service every night. Try to get into Ika’s section. One thing I was a little bit upset at. The muster drill was a joke. It was not help on the lifeboat deck but rather in various parts of the ship. People showed up drunk/drinking. It was very unorganized. As they were telling people what muster station corresponded with what lifeboat number they skipped B. Muster B seemed to be forgotten. Very comforting post Concordia. *Random* One of the comedians made this joke “Did anyone notice anything about the captain and the crew. -silence- Did you not notice they were all Italian? The first set of announcements were “this is your captain speaking from the bridge” and the second set “This is your captain speaking from lifeboat number 1.” The show Motorcity was meh. They could dance but could not sing for there life. There was confusion with the shows, they switched the time a few times.

 

Crap where was I?

 

Crap all these memories want me to book another cruise... Anyway let me talk about the room. We splurged and booked last minute and stayed in the grand suite. It worked out to be cheaper then two balcony cabins ironically. The room was perfect. I could live in there. When you first walk in you have a inlaid hardwood floored foyer. To our left was a walk in closet- something that we don’t have back at home! To the right is the biggest bathroom we have had on a cruise ship. The sink had a large vanity and tons of counter space. (Ladies) It was marble and granite and matched the floor. There was a whirlpool tub. The typical clothes line, wall mounted toilet, etc. The light fixture was surprisingly dated. Our towel animal was the elephant tonight. Something I noticed... I am 5’11 so not super tall. Those of you who have been on cruises know how the bathroom is up a step from the rest of the room. The bathtubs bottom is even higher off the bathroom floor. The ceilings are already pretty low. My head was around 2” from the ceiling while in the bath tub. The stupid shower light would get really hot so it was annoying. This is where the perks of being in a suite ended.

[Wrinks22]

I probably missed a lot from day three (day one on the cruise) so if it comes back to me I will post it.

 

Day 2: On the ship

Today was our first and only sea day. We had a lot of late nights so we slept in. We went to the MDR from breakfast and was glad. I can't remember what I had on each exact day but I have tons of pictures of food so I can probably figure it out later. I just got into Canada and my phone is tethered to my laptop so no pictures yet! Whatever I ate for breakfast I remember it being good.

Today we looked forward to exploring and trying out waterworks. We explored the ship and accidentally found ourselves on a crew only deck. The deck actually had no signage saying it was crew only and we returned there several times. On the second last day we were told it was crew only- LOL. If you want to know where it is: Go to the lower level of the Blue Sapphire lounge. At the right hand side of the stage there is 2 sets of doors. Go through them. You will be a few decks below the bridge. This is the closest I had ever gotten to the bow. Go at your own risk. Once your there if you want to go to the triangle part of the bow you can. But THAT part actually says crew only. I am probably just rambling on now so don't mind me. If any of you correct me about it being crew only oops!

 

After all this exploring we ate at the Guy Fréres (don't know how to spell oops) restaurant. We were expecting a lot of signage and branding but there was no mention of his name. I am still not even 100% sure I was there.

We went to the waterworks and sadly it was closed. I don't know how to put this but a kid took poop in the slide... I was disappointed.

 

We headed to the only pool on the ship (which is quite big) and tested out our snorkels from the shore excursion desk and waterproof camera.

[BK512]

I probably missed a lot from day three (day one on the cruise) so if it comes back to me I will post it.

 

Day 2: On the ship

Today was our first and only sea day. We had a lot of late nights so we slept in. We went to the MDR from breakfast and was glad. I can't remember what I had on each exact day but I have tons of pictures of food so I can probably figure it out later. I just got into Canada and my phone is tethered to my laptop so no pictures yet! Whatever I ate for breakfast I remember it being good.

Today we looked forward to exploring and trying out waterworks. We explored the ship and accidentally found ourselves on a crew only deck. The deck actually had no signage saying it was crew only and we returned there several times. On the second last day we were told it was crew only- LOL. If you want to know where it is: Go to the lower level of the Blue Sapphire lounge. At the right hand side of the stage there is 2 sets of doors. Go through them. You will be a few decks below the bridge. This is the closest I had ever gotten to the bow. Go at your own risk. Once your there if you want to go to the triangle part of the bow you can. But THAT part actually says crew only. I am probably just rambling on now so don't mind me. If any of you correct me about it being crew only oops!

 

After all this exploring we ate at the Guy Fréres (don't know how to spell oops) restaurant. We were expecting a lot of signage and branding but there was no mention of his name. I am still not even 100% sure I was there.

We went to the waterworks and sadly it was closed. I don't know how to put this but a kid took poop in the slide... I was disappointed.

 

We headed to the only pool on the ship (which is quite big) and tested out our snorkels from the shore excursion desk and waterproof camera.

 

 

There is a Guy's on the Ecstasy?

This makes me excited!

[Wrinks22]

There is a Guy's on the Ecstasy?

This makes me excited!

 

I think so. Its 4am and I am on cruise critic :eek: :D :o

[gelo7]

Nice review.

[valandemmy]

From Carnival Website: I got excited when I thought this was on the Ecstasy...Got sad when I found out it wasn't :(

 

This Experience Is Available On:

Carnival Breeze, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Glory and Carnival Liberty.

 

Carnival Sunshine (April 2013)

[Max Circus]

From Carnival Website: I got excited when I thought this was on the Ecstasy...Got sad when I found out it wasn't :(

 

This Experience Is Available On:

Carnival Breeze, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Glory and Carnival Liberty.

 

Carnival Sunshine (April 2013)

 

Guy's Burger Joint wasn't there on my January 2013 cruise and not aware the Ecstasy has been in dry dock for refurbishment since my cruise. ;) The only place I remember having burgers was at the main buffet station right off the pool deck and inside in the aft buffet station.

[Wrinks22]

Okay so where was I? Ah yeah the end of our day at sea. Two people in our party saw Motor City. This was their Motown show. I heard that they were good dancers but they sucked at singing. 2 people in our party went to punch liner comedy, the adults show. It was OKAY. The problem was hearing the f word every 30 seconds was just not funny. Oh yeah, today is elegant night. We called it a night and got a dog for our towel animal. Next stop: Half Moon Cay.

 

Day 3: Of cruise

 

Today was honestly the reason we went on this cruise. We woke up at 8am. We had breakfast and went to blue sapphire lounge. We got our tender number (29). When we were called down we were on the actual HMC tender- not the glass bottom boat. The ride was five minutes long and offered a great picture opportunity of the ship.

 

*Sigh* Whenever I try to attach something it fails...

 

We got to the island around 11am. We decided not to do any shore excursions and just have a day at the beach. We found four beach chair thingies all together a few hundred yards from the washrooms. Perfect! DH and DS2 went snorkelling while DW and DS1 stayed on the beach. The people snorkelling had the following for those who are interested:

-Speedo fins

-Speedo Vanquisher 2.0 goggles

-$5 carnival snorkel

-Sanyo underwater camera

We headed towards the back where their used to be all those habitats with the fish. They were missing? Also the water trampoline was missing?

We headed to the uber lux cabana and found a coral reef! Just watch the banks. Tons of fish live in there. We saw crabs, little blue fish, large white fish, angelfish,yellow/black fish, and more.

 

The second food was available we ran. This is because the last time we were here (on the WESTERDAM) they ran out of food...

Luckily there was plenty of food this time around :) The food was pretty good. There were burgers, chicken, salsa/chips, cookies, potato salad, and more. DM [DW] headed back to the ship for a discounted massage. She had been in the sun to long! She enjoyed it!

 

After eating we met a few nice families from the southern states. We all went into the water. We got out at /3pm to catch a tender. (Can not remember) The idea was we would leave an hour early so we would not have to be with all the people trying to get on the last minute tender. Unfortunately the line was so long we waited an hour to get on the tender. We headed back to the ship and got ready for dinner. If I have time I will do a detailed food post. I think today we saw the brits. It was pretty good. I liked ticket to ride on the Miracle more though. After the show we walked around for a bit and headed to bed.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[gbphatcat]

there is no Guy's on this ship, I was also on this cruise and had an abolutely great time

[Wrinks22]

there is no Guy's on this ship, I was also on this cruise and had an abolutely great time

 

Ahh, I see. Did you see me :D

 

I am surprised that so few people have commented.. Normally lots of people post on these. Any reason why this has seen so little action?

I was wondering if you noticed all the work they were doing to lifeboats. It looked like they were replacing the food in them or something. Almost everyday we saw crew working on them- more then regular cruises.

Also they were lowering a boat in Nassau and it seemed to have snapped and dropped in a few feet. I filmed the whole thing. The people on the boat were shouting at people on the upper decks.

[Wrinks22]

this is a picture of U108 grand suite

[deedle7544]

Enjoying your review - how old are you kids? I'm just wondering if mine will be bored on HMC.

[Hockey Addict]

Please come back!! We will be sailing in her soon! I have enjoyed your review so far!

[Wrinks22]

Enjoying your review - how old are you kids? I'm just wondering if mine will be bored on HMC.

 

14, and 19. Sorry for taking so long to reply. If anyone has any questions or would like to see a picture of something specific please let me know!