John Heald plans a goodbye for the Ecstasy on October 10

[Honolulu Blue]

From Brand Ambassador John Heald's Facebook page, which I'll quote directly and in its entirety:

 

During the last two years we have seen the end of some of the Fantasy class ships in such sad circumstances.

 

These ships meant so much to me and I know they did you too and I wish I had been able to give them a special send off.

 

Well I am determined to do that with CARNIVAL ECSTASY a ship I was Cruise Director on in 1994. So her last ever cruise with guests on board will be from Mobile, Alabama on OCTOBER 10TH .

 

The cruise is a 5 day to Progresso and Cozumel and I will be there to host this final cruise and to have a chance to say cheerio to the ship and all the brilliant memories she has given to the the many, many thousands of people ho have sailed on her.

 

Now I will be working with the fabulous people at the Port of Mobile to make sure we give the ship a proper send off. And on board I will be there to host some shows and get a chance to spend some special time with you.

 

I see the rates are very special indeed so I hope some of you will come and join me for this Fun cruise and poignant goodbye.

 

Cheers

 

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I know some of you are interested in saying goodbye to the Ecstasy, and I know some of you are interested in meeting Mr. Heald or watching him up close.  This is your chance to kill two birds with one stone.

 

This isn't my thing, but does anyone want to say they plan to attend?

[Jelly_Toast]

I won't be on this cruise, but Ecstasy was the first cruise ship I was ever on.  We went on the cruise with only a few weeks notice. It was an impulse purchase and we just took the cabin assigned to us, which happened to be on the empress deck super close to the atrium bar and the indoor parties were loud. My kids were young then so we had early nights. One night we were all woken up by the cruise director yelling "sleeping is stupid, tomorrow we will be in Mexico!" which we all still say to each other to this day despite it being many years ago.

 

I know this wasn't your question, but this memory just makes me smile.

[mz-s]

I think this is wonderful. I doubt I will go, I prefer to remember Ecstasy how she was when my wife and I were on her during our wonderful cruises over the past several years. But it is nice that Ecstasy at least is being given a proper goodbye. I hope they do something for her sisters Fantasy, Fascination, Inspiration, Sensation, and Imagination that never got a goodbye on that cruise.

[BecT]

We husband and I will be going. We don't live far from the port and thought it might be interesting to take the last sailing of a ship.  Should be interesting to see what John Heald and the Port of Mobile plan for celebrating the last sail away. 

[Oldsweets]

Would love to do this trip if only it had a casino offer available.  We will keep watching and hopefully get to tell the old girl goodbye.  

[MistyRo76]

This is great! It's nice to be able to give these ships a special send off! If I lived locally, I might think of hopping on this one! I think the Ecstasy was either my 2nd or 3rd ever cruise back in the late 90's or early 2000's. Great memories! 

[BecT]

7 hours ago, Oldsweets said:

Would love to do this trip if only it had a casino offer available.  We will keep watching and hopefully get to tell the old girl goodbye.  

Check your online account to see if you have any generic casino offers. We did and I was able to book with a casino offer. 

[Sillyjilly]

Wow! So sorry to see her go. I was crushed when they got rid of the Imagination and Inspiration on the West Coast. Will be on the September Ecstasy cruise and am sad to see her go.

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Sillyjilly

[keywest1]

Won't be able to be on this sailing, but she was our first ship and it's sad to see her go.  I remember looking up in the atrium as we boarded and thinking how big everything looked.  My love of cruising started on that day in 2013.  Fifteen cruises later with 16 and 17 booked and three cancelled (stupid

Covid!), she is still special.  She doesn't look quite so big after sailing on the Norwegian Escape though LOL.

[SgtFalstaff]

Our trip on her is actually my least favourite cruise I have been on. No fault of the crew or ship but our itinerary got diverted due to hurricanes in the eastern Caribbean, there was fog that kept us from docking at one of the ports for several hours and seas were uncomfortably rough on our last sea day. Didn't put us off cruising though!

 

The Fantasy (and Holiday) class on our early cruises, while small by today's standards, had their own charm and I have fond memories cruising on them. The only big negative I had was the lack of balcony staterooms. 

 

It's cool they giving her send-off and I hope it's a nice one!

[Pellaz]

On 3/28/2022 at 9:30 PM, BecT said:

Should be interesting to see what John Heald and the Port of Mobile plan for celebrating the last sail away. 

 

I'm thinking a water-spray escort from a port fireboat.  

[MeganGC1983]

We are scheduled to be on the Dream all ready that week or I would attempt to make it. 

[Indytraveler83]

I've never been on Ecstacy, and won't be on that cruise, but I think it is a great idea.

 

I'm sort of surprised Carnival doesn't do this for all of the ships.  A month long "goodbye" with old pictures and memories, maybe some retro themed events and meals might attract cruisers who want to bid farewell and relive memories on the ship one last time.

 

Beyond the obvious customer aspect- I'd think these types of celebrations would probably boost the ship's demand and help Carnival squeeze a few last bits of premium dollars out of these ships at the end.  

[Joe817]

3 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

I've never been on Ecstacy, and won't be on that cruise, but I think it is a great idea.

 

I'm sort of surprised Carnival doesn't do this for all of the ships.  A month long "goodbye" with old pictures and memories, maybe some retro themed events and meals might attract cruisers who want to bid farewell and relive memories on the ship one last time.

 

Beyond the obvious customer aspect- I'd think these types of celebrations would probably boost the ship's demand and help Carnival squeeze a few last bits of premium dollars out of these ships at the end.  

I think that is an EXCELLENT idea!! 👍

[SpaceCowboy9]

Sorry to see her go.  Had three cruises on the Ecstasy.  It was close to home when based in South Carolina.  Love the Fantasy class ships.

[BecT]

On 4/1/2022 at 3:05 AM, Pellaz said:

 

I'm thinking a water-spray escort from a port fireboat.  

That would be a pretty cool thing to see and experience. Not sure if anyone else other than port workers would be able to see it since Mobile is only a working port.  There's no where that I can think of for others to come down to watch the sail away...maybe near Fort Morgan as it leaves the bay?

[nickle58]

Oh, I wish!  My husband and I love the size and charm of the Ecstasy!  

[Pyxie]

I would, but we already have other plans at that time. We were on her first sailing back last month, which was... interesting lol.

[CorbinCatFan]

John Heald was the cruise director on our first cruise in 1991 and it's been 24 years since we sailed on the Ecstasy.  What the heck, I just booked this cruise.

 

The only other time I booked a cruise from Mobile was on the Fantasy for it's last season but it was cancelled due to Covid.  The next thing that I knew, the Fantasy was sent to the scrap yard. 

 

I'm sure this will be the last Fantasy class ship that I will cruise on.  Good memories but time moves on.

[ninjacat123]

My 2 DDs and I are cruising on Ecstasy end of May and we are so excited!  Plus we have never been to Mobile!  Woo Hoo!!

[jedi bobs]

1 hour ago, CorbinCatFan said:

John Heald was the cruise director on our first cruise in 1991 and it's been 24 years since we sailed on the Ecstasy.  What the heck, I just booked this cruise.

 

The only other time I booked a cruise from Mobile was on the Fantasy for it's last season but it was cancelled due to Covid.  The next thing that I knew, the Fantasy was sent to the scrap yard. 

 

I'm sure this will be the last Fantasy class ship that I will cruise on.  Good memories but time moves on.

I live in London, Ky I'm on this cruise too, are you driving down?

 

[Razor_Poke]

Our first Carnival cruise and second cruise overall.  Our 5 day became a 7 due to the swine flu in Mexico and consequential itinerary changes. 
 

It was there we learned the power if the sign and sail card. The bill under the door final night was, umm, shocking 😂😂😂

[slavens_09]

2 hours ago, Razor_Poke said:

Our first Carnival cruise and second cruise overall.  Our 5 day became a 7 due to the swine flu in Mexico and consequential itinerary changes. 
 

It was there we learned the power if the sign and sail card. The bill under the door final night was, umm, shocking 😂😂😂

I think we might have been on the same cruise! My first cruise was also on the Ecstasy out of Galveston in June 2009. We were changed from a 5 day to 7 day and went to Cozumel and Montego Bay. I sailed on June 6th 2009.

[xDisconnections]

Glad to see another Fantasy class ship on its way out of the fleet. Thanks for the update.

[CorbinCatFan]

17 hours ago, jedi bobs said:

I live in London, Ky I'm on this cruise too, are you driving down?

 

Yes, we are going to drive down.