Carnival Ecstasy Lady Antebellum concert Nov 17, 2014

[lovermonkey]

 

Hello everyone! Just got back from Carnival Ecstasy Lady Antebellum concert, which was on Nov 19, 2014 in Cozumel Mexico. This was the 4 day cruise from Miami starting on Nov 17, 2014. Stops were Key West and Cozumel. During this cruise only Lisa and I were going. The kids really wanted to stay in school this time so they stayed home. LOL

 

Just a few things about me. I am the type that likes to be sarcastic and a bit negative at times but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the cruise. Also like to mention that I tend to have a lot of type-Os, so don’t be surprised if something doesn’t look right. But I try to make up for it with lots of pics. I really like taking photos and videos.

 

Lisa and I booked this cruise back in March. Mainly because of LadyA being on this cruise. We are on this country concert kick so this seemed only fitting. Even after booking this cruise, we found ourselves going to a lot of country concerts. Since we booked this cruise later than we should, we originally couldn’t get VIP tickets to LadyA. So we bought the regular tickets instead. If you want to get VIP to a Carnival concert, I would highly suggest buying them a year before the cruise. Many of the people that had VIP tickets that I talked too bought them a year in advance. Lucky for us I was checking out Carnival’s site when I noticed that two VIP tickets opened up. Tired to buy them but the Carnival’s site wasn’t allowing me too, since we already had the two regular tickets. And for some reason Carnival’s site wasn’t allowing me to cancel the older ones. That is when my girlfriend started to get edgy and I was starting to fear for my life if I didn’t get these tickets. The last two tickets were staring us in the face and we couldn’t buy them. Lisa immediately picked up the phone to call Carnival. Listening to the on-hold music waiting for a person from Carnival was murder. And if I said anything to Lisa, I would get the stare of death. Good thing for me Carnival answered the phone. I certainly felt sorry for the Carnival’s representative because we were really overly aggressive about getting those tickets. And that is putting it nicely. Finally the Carnival representative noticed that they were the last two tickets. That is when she said, “Oh, those are the last two tickets. I just put them on hold for you so we can complete the transaction.” The death stares stopped after that. Well, after I give her my credit card of course. LOL

 

Months before the cruise we got the opportunity to go to a ladyA concern in Aurora, Ill, and a few months after that Lisa bought Garth tickets when he came to Chicago. Here are few photos before I talk about the cruise. As you can see we were not up front for these concerts. Sorry, I know this isn't part of the cruise, but I just wanted to share.

 

More to continue

 

 

 

 

 

[prad]

Good start, sounds like lot's of fun was had! The Ecstasy was our first cruise, will be sailing her again on 3/23/15. Would like to see pictures of the Fun Times. Thank you.

[jimbo5544]

Thanks for posting, can't wait to see and read the rest.

[Baymax]

Looked like a successful concert. How many tickets were given away for free? I heard she closed the traditional dining room for private dining for an hour (6p-7p) and those with a ticket were ostracized to eat at the Lido buffet. Can you share some light on this? KAN doesn't think it is possible and didn't have an answer. I read it here

Edited November 22, 2014 by Baymax

[lovermonkey]

Looked like a successful concert. How many tickets were given away for free? I heard she closed the traditional dining room for private dining for an hour (6p-7p) and those with a ticket were ostracized to eat at the Lido buffet. Can you share some light on this? KAN doesn't think it is possible and didn't have an answer. I read it here

 

To be honest I didn't even know about this until you posted this. We had anytime dining. We had a separate dinning room for anytime dinning. We were there at 5:45pm when it opened, and didn't have any problems. But to make it to the Meet and Greet for VIP, we had to leave early. So no lava cake for us that night.

 

To my understanding this concert was sold out. They were not giving any free ones out. There was a waiting list for this concert. We know this because we were waiting for the Galleria to open so we sat in the lounge and over heard them talking about people on the waiting list. Not sure how many got in. But like I said, this concert was sold out before the cruise even started.

[Baymax]

To be honest I didn't even know about this until you posted this. We had anytime dining. We had a separate dinning room for anytime dinning. We were there at 5:45pm when it opened, and didn't have any problems. But to make it to the Meet and Greet for VIP, we had to leave early. So no lava cake for us that night.

 

To my understanding this concert was sold out. They were not giving any free ones out. There was a waiting list for this concert. We know this because we were waiting for the Galleria to open so we sat in the lounge and over heard them talking about people on the waiting list. Not sure how many got in. But like I said, this concert was sold out before the cruise even started.

 

Thanks for the quick response!

[lovermonkey]

Ok..On with the cruise.

 

We used the same limo service as we did when we went on the Pride. (American Coach Limo) They did another good job as last year. We decided to go a day early to check out Miami and just in case something happens that would stop us from getting to port. When we got to O’Hare it started to snow. It was coming down pretty good but not sticking. But still our queue to leave Chicago. We left Chicago around 12pm and got to Miami around 3:30pm or more so 4:30 since Miami is an hour ahead of us. It was nice to be in 79 degree weather and no snow.

I decided a while ago that my best bet for a hotel in Miami was the downtown Holiday Inn. I figured it was close to the port, there was a lot to do there, and many places around that we could buy soda before the cruise. I must say it was a good idea. As of Nov 16 2014 the going taxi price to this hotel from the airport was a little over 24 dollars. I only spent 168 for the hotel room. If you pay up front before hand, you can get a better rate. They also upgraded my room when I got there by putting us up on the 9th floor, which over looked the bay. The view was awesome. But keep in mind that this building is a bit older. You can tell in certain areas of the building. But it wasn’t anything to worry about. Our room was awesome and as you can see I have provided pictures.

For dinner I had done some research on places to go. But I finally decided on Bubba Gump. I know the locals were telling me to go out further but we were tired and decided to head to somewhere close. Bubba Gump was right across the street. And we loved it. Lisa had the Georgia Peach Tea and the Forrest’s Favorite fest. They actually let you keep the glass. I had the same but just a beer. And our favorite was the hush puppies. I had gone to Bubba Gump’s in Chicago but Lisa had never been there. She still talks about Bubba Gumps. After Bubba Gumps we walked the Mall that is right next to Bubba Gumps. Bought a few souvenirs and then went back to the hotel.

 

We had a good night at the hotel. No issues. The saw the ship coming into port about 7am, along with some of cruise ships. Our agenda was to get some soda for the cruise. I knew there were a few places next to the hotel, but it was a little tougher than I thought. More so because I am more into Diet Pepsi and CSVs and 7/11 didn’t have Diet Pepsi. I finally found a Walgreens about four blocks down that had Diet Pepsi. Oh thank God! Of course that is when we started to get random rain storms. But we made it to the hotel without too much moisture. One thing we noticed while walking around Miami was this random stinky scent that would come up and bite us in the butt.

 

Breakfast was done at the hotel. It was raining so we decided to eat there. We had the buffet. It cost around 27 bucks for two people. It was ok. Wasn’t my favorite but was ok. After breakfast we waited until about 10:30am and then headed to the port. Taxi was about 16 bucks to the port and they drop you right up to the door to go in. Luggage drop off is right by the door before you go in. Have your documents ready before you get out of the Taxi. Trust me on that.

 

Snow in Chicago. Hard to see here but the snow gets worse.

 

Touchdown in Miami.

 

Hotel Pictures

 

 

 

In front of Hotel

[lovermonkey]

More photos from downtown Miami.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovermonkey]

A few more photos of downtown Miami.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Orison]

Looked like a successful concert. How many tickets were given away for free? I heard she closed the traditional dining room for private dining for an hour (6p-7p) and those with a ticket were ostracized to eat at the Lido buffet. Can you share some light on this? KAN doesn't think it is possible and didn't have an answer. I read it here

 

WOW! That's a doozy. :cool:

[Bases5]

I was wondering if the Lady A concert on the ship was the same as the land based concert. Same quality,songs Etc.

[lovermonkey]

I was wondering if the Lady A concert on the ship was the same as the land based concert. Same quality,songs Etc.

 

Surprising it was just as good. Even being in a small room, they did a good job at making it sound acoustically right.:D

 

 

This was a video a took this year in Aurora, Il. I think the quality of the audio from the concert was very close to this. And it is an outdoor theater.

 

[YOUTUBE]www.youtube.com/embed/nJN4_oQWyzM[/YOUTUBE]

 

Edited November 23, 2014 by lovermonkey

[lovermonkey]

I was wondering if the Lady A concert on the ship was the same as the land based concert. Same quality,songs Etc.

 

OH, I should show an example for the actual concert.

 

Here you go. You might have to click on the link. I have not got the youtube link to work.

 

[YOUTUBE]youtu.be/e00KFH1gftQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

[lovermonkey]

I have a few more pictures before I continue. :D

 

 

[crazycatlady82]

FYI, if you like country music, you and Lisa should check out WeFest in Detroit Lakes, MN--from Chicago, it's about a 8 hr drive, and it's a 3 day, country music festival. Great headliners normally--Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, etc. It's not a cruise but it's country music!

[lovermonkey]

FYI, if you like country music, you and Lisa should check out WeFest in Detroit Lakes, MN--from Chicago, it's about a 8 hr drive, and it's a 3 day, country music festival. Great headliners normally--Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, etc. It's not a cruise but it's country music!

 

Thank you! That's a good idea.

 

We have actually gone to Country Thunder in Wisconsin. Last time we went they had Sugarland and Kenny Chesney.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2014 by lovermonkey

[lovermonkey]

Before heading to port I was concerned about was where exactly do we get dropped off at on the port. Because Carnival’s site says either port D or E, so I wasn’t sure where to go. And I didn’t think the taxi driver knew which one. But when you are driving to the port, there is an over head display that tells you which port to goto for your cruise ship. It actually came up and said D for Ecstasy. So it wasn’t too bad to figure out once you get there.

 

When I finally got to the port you will first see a lot of people waiting, and I thought they were waiting in line to get in. But I was wrong. They were just getting off the ship and waiting for a taxi. The taxi driver kept driving until he got around the other side of the building. This is actually the front of the building. It is the location where you will go in at. You will drop your luggage right on the left side of the door where you will go in. I suggest that you have all your documents ready before you get out of the taxi. Because as soon as you get out of the taxi and give them your luggage, you will be required to show your documents as soon as you get in the door.(That if you are priority or FTTF) Stupid me was not ready and I had to dig for my documents, and people were giving me the stink eye. But after being yelled at from the girlfriend, I got out of everyone’s way and dug for my documents. I also bought the Faster to the fun so I needed to show that quickly to get into the right lane. The faster to the Fun line went quickly. The regular line didn’t have too large of a line, but I think I would still prefer getting the faster to the fun option. Also one thing I wasn’t prepared for before getting in line was having my Ebola document signed. Carnival required everyone to sign a document for Ebola. I had prepared to do that before, but we forgot because we were having too much fun in Miami. Anyway, after you get passed the x-ray machine you need to have this document signed before going any further. There is a sign that will remind you to sign this document before proceeding. So don’t be like me and wait until the last second.

 

 

 

When we first got the counter to get our sail and sign cards, the lady told us that someone goofed and sent us to the wrong counter. But since things were going pretty fast it really didn’t matter. She just needed to run to the other side to get us our red sail and sign cards. Then reminded us to show the FTTF sticker on the back so they know we are FTTF. It didn’t take longer after that to get on board. We were on board at 11:30am. Then I proceed to get a soda sticker for us. I really wish Carnival would give you this option when you sign up on their website instead of waiting in line to get the soda card. It would be nice to have it all set up before getting on the boat. Ok…So this is when I have to complain. I have bought soda stickers before and have never had to pay the tax as you are getting your soda. Meaning after paying the money for the soda sticker, when you actually go and get a soda, if you are in port you will be charged a tax again… It may be only 10 to 20 cents but I really think when you pay for the sticker the first time, it should cover all the costs..They must have just started doing this because I have never had to pay a tax every time I get a soda while in port. It was at this point we found ourselves buying more liquor than soda so we had them switch us to the cheers program. We had to go back to the soda line to void out the soda sticker. When I came back to sign up for the cheers program, which is 50 bucks per day and includes about 15 drinks per day per person, the lady said they didn’t void it out and that she would do it. Not sure why she couldn’t do that when I first got there, but what can you do. Oh, and don’t forget that the tax on the drinks goes up to about 33 cents for the liquor drinks while in port. They don’t charge you when are out of the US port though. I still think that they should charge you a flat tax fee when you buy the cheers program initially. I am wondering why we don’t have the opportunity to buy the cheers and/or soda card before getting on the ship. It would make things better and faster instead of waiting in line for it when we got on the ship.

 

 

 

More Complains: turn away if you won’t want to listen. So after all that we went to check out our room. While in the hallway by the elevators we could smell sewage. This seemed more prevalent in the lower decks. Our room was M110. It too smelled like sewage. When we got to our room we were checking out the balcony when we noticed a large barge which was up against the ship. We were guessing that they were removing sewage from the boat and that is why we smelled it so badly. Even though the sewage seemed to go away after awhile, it did come back a day afterwards when we heard banging on the pipes. After a while, it went away. This was probably the only major complaint I had on the cruise. Please keep in mind that yes it was bad, but I don’t think it would deter me from going on Carnival. I understand things like that happen, so I try to keep an open mind. But I probably would go back on Ecstasy.

 

The first day we were on board we were lazy and didn’t really do too much but stay by the pools. It was the first time we were on the top deck during a sail away. Normally we are off doing other stuff. We found ourselves going to the Red Frog bar a lot. Even got a Red Frog drink cup. We never went to the Blue Iguana bar. I don’t know why. I think because the Red Frog bar seemed to have that “come here” feel to it. Funny thing is both bars are right next to each other by the pool area. I have to apologize. I don’t have any food porn pictures. Normally I take a lot of pictures of the food, but not this time. For lunch I had my favorite, pastrami on rye. Ever since being on the Triumph and the New Yorker telling me about the pastrami on rye sandwiches, I have always found myself getting one at the start of the cruise.

 

 

 

Key West.

 

Key West has always been one of my favorite stops. Lisa and I were here in 2011 when we were on the Triumph. Last time we decided to use the trolley to see everything. We started to get the trolley for this cruise like last time but since our stop would be considerably brief, we decided to cancel it and just walk around. Which was good because we were able to check out more places that we saw during our last trolley ride. When we got to port in Key West we were parked on the military side instead of by Mallory Sq side. I was a little concerned because you could tell it was a long jog to get back to the other side by Mallory Sq. It would really eat into our time here if we were forced to walk. But when you are on the Military base side, Carnival will provide you will a ride into town and back. But you are not allowed to take any photos pass the ship, until you pass the military check point. Every time we saw a Navy Seal, everyone cheered for him. They were probably sick of us but I think a few enjoyed it. LOL The first thing we did was check out Kino's Sandals shop. Lisa wasn't to check it out again. From there we went to Sloppy Joes and then a few other places along the way.

 

 

 

 

[lovermonkey]

More photos from Key West.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2014 by lovermonkey

[300dtc]

We were on that cruise too! How about Tuesday night? The ship was really rolling on lobster night, I think that is the worst that I ever experienced...

[lovermonkey]

We were on that cruise too! How about Tuesday night? The ship was really rolling on lobster night, I think that is the worst that I ever experienced...

 

Yes it was bad. Steward brought us Ice that night and I was afraid it was going to fall on the floor. I put it in the shower. LOL. But it wasn't as bad as when we were on the Pride. It was so bad you couldn't go anywhere without seeing someone loose their lunch. All the kids at Camp Carnival were throwing up. It was really bad.

[lovermonkey]

Cozumel

Before going to bed that night of the concert we asked our Stewart for ice. We didn’t have the regular ice bucket in our room as normal so I was afraid to even ask. But we did and instead of getting the regular sized ice container that we normally get in the room, we got this larger sized plastic bucket o ice. I laughed when we got it, because I wasn’t expecting that much ice.

 

The night before the concert, we had some terrible storms. The boat was rocking something awfully. But it wasn’t too bad that I didn’t get any sleep. I still got some sleep though. Even though the bed seemed very hard this time. Today was going to be a busy day. For some, not so much. Due to the storms of Tuesday night, many of the excursions were canceled. I think I overheard 80% of them were canceled for Cozumel. Even getting into port the waves were still rough. But the captain did an awesome job getting into port without an issue. And I have to give him kudos for the awesome driving that night because the waves were hitting us good. When we started to get in line, we were asked if we had excursions to check to see if they were still going on. I did have an excursion but I didn’t go thru Carnival this time. And this time it paid off. The private beach I reserved won’t cancel unless it is really bad out. With all the review I heard, I decided on Nachi Cocom. It is a private beach with only 100 people there. All you can drink and you get 4 plates of food each. And we didn’t even get close to reach that. Anyway, they had us line down another hallway to get off the boat. Took some time but we finally got off the boat. Waved a taxi and we were off to Nachi Cocom. Paid 24 bucks one way(I think). When we first got the gate of the beach, Lisa was a little nervous because it was just an old gentleman that would un-tie the chain to let you in. And you couldn’t really see anything beyond the trees etc. So we were thinking to ourselves when we arrive “was this really a good idea”. But once you get to the parking lot everything opens up. And you start seeing the beauty of the place. A lady greeted us at the front and asked for our reservations. At Nachi Cocom you had to make on-line reservations before you come. For two people the reservation was 20 bucks and then you pay 88 when you get there. She will proceed to take a picture of you with a sombrero. They asked me to put it on but I didn’t really trust where it was before hand, so I just held it for the picture.(yes later they will want to sell it to you for 14 bucks) After that they take you to the cashier and take the remaining amount that you owe. Mine was 88 bucks for the two people. They will take you to a nice place to sit by the beach or somewhere else that you would like to go. I must say it was awesome, even though we didn’t have any sun.(But 80 degs) It was very cloudy because of the all the rain they were getting. At one point the lady selling the pictures came over. She actually told us sorry for the bad weather. I smiled and smiled and said this isn't bad weather. It is 9 degs in Chicago, I would rather be in 80 deg weather and cloudy than 9 degs and snow on the ground. As far as serving you on the beach, If you are sitting by the beach they will come by and refill your drink. Whatever you want. They will also give you menus with prices. Don’t freak, it is just for people that come in unannounced if they have more spots open. If I was grading the services etc, I would give the services a A+, the drinks were C, and the food was a B. We ordered chips and salsa and It think steak and chicken fajitas. The food was good, but it doesn’t beat “On the Board” (if you have them) but it certainly is better than taco bell. LOL

 

Since we had the concert and meet and greet for LadyA, we had to leave earlier than we wanted to. The host will call you a taxi, which gets there pretty quick. I think it takes about 15 to 20 mins to get back to port. Once we got to port Lisa bought a few things to take back. Be prepared to get glommed on by everyone trying to sell you everything when you are leaving. We got back on board, took a shower and head to the dining room. Anytime dinning was open at 5:45. To what I have heard only anytime dining was being seated due to the LadyA concert. We were concerned when we were eating that we wouldn’t make diner. So we had to skip desert to make it to the meet and greet. Everything was ok at diner but I really liked the baked potato. I had chicken and Lisa had the steak. We got the tickets and a letter on Monday night telling us to be at Stripes lounge at 7pm for the meet and greet. There was no line when we got there but we could tell people were sitting around already so we just sat and waited. But once someone started to get in line so didn’t we. Once they let us in to the meet and greet we were given a vip badge, a button (a button the staff were wearing during cruse for LadyA), and champagne. When ladyA got in the room we were asked to sanitize our hands before getting the picture with them. It didn’t take long for us to take a picture and then head out to the theater. There was no waiting to get into the theater for VIP. They just let us thru. We were in the 2nd row center. The concert was awesome. Better when you are right there instead of being in an outdoor theater.

 

In the port pictures

 

 

 

 

Nachi Cocom

 

[lovermonkey]

More Nachi Cocom pictures.

 

 

 

This is Mr. Sanchos

 

[lovermonkey]

Concert pictures

 

[lovermonkey]

More Concert pictures

 

 

This lady got to dance with LadyA and I just happened to take some photos. I saw her again getting our photos and told her I would email her photos of her dancing with him. This is one of them. Little blurry but I wasn't expecting it so it came out a little blurry.

[lovermonkey]

Not too many responses/questions this time, so I promise I will wrap this up soon. Here are a few more photos.

 

Edited December 9, 2014 by lovermonkey