Questions about the Ecstasy..

[missdorado26]

Hi everyone, we just booked a cruise for spring break from Charleston SC.

Wondering if spring break cruises are usually more crowded than usual?

We have sailed carnival before but never on the Ecstasy, how is the kids club? The food? Is the serenity area really full most of the time?

The serenity area on the pride was my favorite place on the ship!!!

Compared to the pride, how much bigger or smaller is the ship?

Also what is parking like at the pier, pricewise?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for any info you guys can give me. :)

[Who Cares?]

Hi everyone, we just booked a cruise for spring break from Charleston SC.

Wondering if spring break cruises are usually more crowded than usual?

We have sailed carnival before but never on the Ecstasy, how is the kids club? The food? Is the serenity area really full most of the time?

The serenity area on the pride was my favorite place on the ship!!!

Compared to the pride, how much bigger or smaller is the ship?

Also what is parking like at the pier, pricewise?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for any info you guys can give me. :)

 

All ships usually sail full but on shorter cruises and spring break cruises there will be a higher ratio of college age kids and drinkers.

 

Have never used the kids club so can't answer that one.

 

Food is has always been good in my experiences.

 

Ecstasy is slightly smaller at about 75,000 tons versus the Pride at about 88,000 tons. Serenity at at the back of the ship and has a hot tub there as well.

 

Haven't parked at Charleston before but at other locations it's between $15 and $20 per night of the cruise.

[cruisingwith4littles]

We're on a 7 day spring break (late March) Ecstasy cruise as well. We booked this sailing over a year ago, however the cruise was originally scheduled to be on the Fantasy. A few weeks after we booked, carnival switched ships for this sailing. Most of the Ecstasy reviews I have come across refer to 3-5 day sailings, and from what I've heard, those tend to be more or a party crowd. Just keep that in mind when you're reading reviews about the ambience onboard.

[johnlisac]

Definitely a party ship and kids club is a joke will never sail in Ecstasy again!!

 

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[The4Cruisers]

We had a great cruise on Ecstasy a couple years ago. It's a Fantasy class ship, so she's one of the smaller and older ships in the CCL fleet. However she is kept up nicely and we had a great, relaxing vacation. There was no unruliness and the staff did a great job keeping guests entertained.

 

Haven't sailed during Spring Break, so I can't comment on that part of your question.

 

Have a great trip.

Edited January 3, 2016 by The4Cruisers

[desert sand]

We did the Fantasy last March 2015 out of Charleston. We had 1200 college kids on board. We were never able to find 1 vacant outside chair - lounge or regular. The kids were partying until 4 AM and were outside on deck at 7 AM. The only places to sit were inside and I wanted to enjoy the outside sea air. Was not going to happen this trip. For me, I will never cruise the end of Feb or the whole month of March. 5 and 7 days cruises during this time are packed with college kids then add in the families with younger kids that are also on spring break.

[Guest]

You could not pay me to cruise spring break,or the ecstasy.

[Who Cares?]

Definitely a party ship and kids club is a joke will never sail in Ecstasy again!!

 

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The ship has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not there is a party atmosphere. Length of cruise and time of year are the determining factors. I cruised a 5 night in December on her and no more partying than any other ship I've sailed.

 

I would love to sail her again.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Who Cares?

[Who Cares?]

You could not pay me to cruise spring break,or the ecstasy.

 

That's good because no one I know of will attempt to do that for you. :rolleyes:

[johnlisac]

The ship has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not there is a party atmosphere. Length of cruise and time of year are the determining factors. I cruised a 5 night in December on her and no more partying than any other ship I've sailed.

 

I would love to sail her again.

Different cruise different experience! And you are correct shorter cruises and lower fares tend to draw in the younger crowd!!

 

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[Who Cares?]

Different cruise different experience! And you are correct shorter cruises and lower fares tend to draw in the younger crowd!!

 

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Also different people perceive the same things differently. One person may see someone holding two drinks and think "OMG what kind of party boat did I get on?" and another may think "Isn't that nice that he got a drink for his wife.". ;)

[johnlisac]

Also different people perceive the same things differently. One person may see someone holding two drinks and think "OMG what kind of party boat did I get on?" and another may think "Isn't that nice that he got a drink for his wife.". ;)

Agree totally!! I would consider myself someone who likes to drink "I'm from Wisconsin" doesn't bother me at all to see someone having a good time now being obnoxious is a different story. And nobody should take post on this site or any other site as gospel!!

 

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[missdorado26]

I'm young myself so don't mind the party atmosphere. As long as no one is bumping Into me or spilling drinks on me I'm ok.

We will mist likely spend most of our time in the serenity area while the kids are in the kids club.

[drafterdw]

Definitely a party ship and kids club is a joke will never sail in Ecstasy again!!

 

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can you tell us more....time of year you sailed, what really turned you off? Otherwise can't really consider your post as credible.

[peekinglemer]

My mom and I did a short 4 night cruise on the Ecstasy last January. We loved it.

 

Yes, it is a smaller ship but we had an easy time navigating, really enjoyed the pool and the activities on-board, and also enjoyed the main dining room.

 

The casino however was another story. We didn't see ANY payouts the whole time we were there. Very tight. Boo!

[sanmarcosman]

Take the stairs on that ship to be safe.

[johnlisac]

can you tell us more....time of year you sailed, what really turned you off? Otherwise can't really consider your post as credible.

OK you asked for it ship is very small. The ship does a lot of short cruises and the cost is very inexpensive so we had a lot of young party people on the ship very out of control and nobody did anything to correct there behavior! Dinning room is very small you almost sit on top of the person next to you. The food was terrible not only in the dinning room but at the buffet as well. The kids club was very small and only open for a few hours a day which was OK because we didn't bring the kids with us which was a good thing!!! Casino is also very small so near impossible to get a seat at a machine. The ship is very outdated and needs a complete overhaul. Stateroom smelled of smoke room attendant cleaned carpet and the walls but couldn't get rid of smell was offered a different stateroom last day of our cruise!!! One of the only positive things was the staff very polite and worked hard for there money. So to sum it up if your not traveling with children and don't mind everything listed above you'll have a great time GOOD LUCK and we traveled in February not during spring break.

 

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[missdorado26]

I actually prefer a smaller ship...I don't like hanging out by the pool too much and pretty much want to spend most of the time in the serenity area. This was our only option for spring break as other ships don't have these exact dates in need. I'm not picky at all so I think we will have a good time.