Ecstasy-Only Thread! Ask questions and post info. here!

[Stircrzy]

[quote name='AllisonsGram']:rolleyes: Is there a formal night on the 4 night cruise? What night is it? We have booked 12/6/07 for my "birthday" present and it has already gone up in price. For once I had good timing. We got a past passenger up grade to the Empress deck. Anyone else going on that date?[/quote]

Always a formal night!

Your formal night will be on Friday night.

[AllisonsGram]

Thanks Stircrzy for the info! What part of this GREAT state do you reside?

[Stircrzy]

South of you, about 40 miles or so...:D

[AmberMarie]

I really think I'm going to book a cruise with several friends on a January ecstasy cruise.. I'm afraid I'll feel like 5 days isn't enough, though! haha

[EastTexans2]

That's why you book a B2B!

[AllisonsGram]

[quote name='AmberMarie']I really think I'm going to book a cruise with several friends on a January ecstasy cruise.. I'm afraid I'll feel like 5 days isn't enough, though! haha[/quote]
I know what you mean! The 4 day is so short but that is all we can do with my DH work schedule. But any day (4, 5, 7 or more) on a ship is paradise to me and I will jump at the chance to go:D

[onewildrice]

Ok, we leave on June 21 and here are a few things I have been wondering about:

1) I know we can't take irons, so what does everyone do? I mean they obviously want everyone to look/dress nice for dinner and I am afraid that we will look like a bunch of riffraff with wrinkly clothes. I am packing for 4 and am at a loss on how to pack and be wrinkle free...HELP!!

2) Are there blow dryers in the cabins? Not wanting to pack mine if I do not need it.

3) What time can we actually board? Which parking is the best way to go; drop off/then take car or park and have everyone shuttled?

4) of course, right at this moment my main concern is our passports that we went for on March 15 and still do not have. I know we do not need the passport, but I DO need the BC they sent off with it as I only had the one copy!!!!

Thanks,
Sherry

[Stircrzy]

[quote name='onewildrice']Ok, we leave on June 21 and here are a few things I have been wondering about:

1) I know we can't take irons, so what does everyone do? I mean they obviously want everyone to look/dress nice for dinner and I am afraid that we will look like a bunch of riffraff with wrinkly clothes. I am packing for 4 and am at a loss on how to pack and be wrinkle free...HELP!!

2) Are there blow dryers in the cabins? Not wanting to pack mine if I do not need it.

3) What time can we actually board? Which parking is the best way to go; drop off/then take car or park and have everyone shuttled?

4) of course, right at this moment my main concern is our passports that we went for on March 15 and still do not have. I know we do not need the passport, but I DO need the BC they sent off with it as I only had the one copy!!!!

Thanks,
Sherry[/quote]

1. Downy Wrinkle Release, or I send the stuff out for pressing service.

2. There are blow dryers in the suites. You can also ask your steward for one if in a regular cabin.

3. Usually by 11:30 or noon, depending on the previous cruisers clearing customs on time. You will still not be able to access your cabin until around 1:30 PM, so make sure you can lug all of the carry-on stuff you're bringing. I park at [URL="http://www.lighthouseparking.org/"]Lighthouse Parking[/URL] and let them shuttle me and my stuff to the ship. They have a discount for reserving online, in addition to:
[INDENT][LIST]
[*]
[*][SIZE=2]24 hr security[/SIZE]
[*][SIZE=2] 8 ft. enclosed parking area with razor wire[/SIZE]
[*][SIZE=2] Elevated parking area of any cruise parking facility for protection against flooding[/SIZE]
[*][SIZE=2] We shuttle your party and luggage to and from cruise ship terminal[/SIZE]
[*][SIZE=2] Handicap-equipped buses[/SIZE]
[*][SIZE=2] Car cover available (additional $10 charge)[/SIZE]
[*][SIZE=2] Parking and shuttle for all cruise lines[/SIZE]
[*][SIZE=2] Visa, M/C, Amex credit cards accepted[/SIZE][/LIST][/INDENT]
4. You DO still need that BC. If you were born anywhere in the state of Texas, you can go to the closest courthouse to your current residence and get a certified copy. They're around $11 dollars, I think.

Have a great trip!

[p2lockhart]

Hi, Sherry.
1. Passengers are not allowed to bring irons and candles due to the dangers of fire at sea. Carnival does have irons available for use in the laundrettes located on the ship. You can also send your clothes out to be pressed or dry cleaned at a reasonable fee. I use a tip I read on the boards here. I hang my clothes on hangers and then cover them in a dry cleaner's plastic bag to minimize wrinkling. That way the unpacking is all the easier, too. Just take them out and hang them in the closet. A travel size bottle of wrinkle release might come in handy as well.
2. Blow dryers are provided though some of us have experienced ones that do not blow very strongly. If you have thick hair, you might want to bring your own just in case, along with the electrical power strip and extension cord if you need to use more than one electrica outlet or need to be further from that one outlet provided.
3. The best way to go- Last time my BIL dropped us off and picked us up. But normally I have a vehicle to deal with and either park it for free in a hotel where I stay the night before or use one of the cruise parking lots if I drive in the day of the cruise. When I stayed at Harbor House, I dropped off everyone else and all of the luggage, drove the car back to Harbor House, and then walked back to the pier. This works ok if you are early and not in heavy traffic. If you park in a lot like EZ Cruise, you can either do the same with just the driver taking the shuttle back after parking or just park with everyone and load up all pax and baggage in the shuttle at one time. You can reserve your parking online in advance and save a few bucks, but not with the Port Authority Parking, unless that has changed. I like to arrive around 10:30 am. though I usually do not get on the ship until about noon.
4. ID- If I were you I would order certified copies of the birth certificates in case the passports do no show up on time and your cruise is ruined. With all the backlog I have read about, that seems to be a real possibility. If you were born in Texas you should be able to order a certified copy from either the county of your birth or the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Austin. My last 3 cruises were on NCL and RCI and I used my passport without a birth certificate. My last cruise was in March '07.

I am sure if any other CC board members know of more recent info, they will feel free to chime in.

[Ashpalo]

Great news announced today! As long as you have the receipt proving that your passport is being processed and your driver's license- you do not need the passport itself or your Birth Certificate! Go to this link for full details:

[URL]http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/08/passports.ap/index.html[/URL]

[mrdood]

There are laundry rooms on board with irons and ironing boards, you can iron in the laundry room all day long...;)

[randykaye]

Can I just say that it is SOOOOOOOOOOO hard to be at work right now!! We head down to galveston on sunday to leave on the ship on monday!!!!I am packing tomorrow and going thru last minute" do we have this and do we really need to take this?" questions!!! I can't wait to go and will be giving a full report when we get back!!!!

[dcwms]

I give you permission to leave early! Enjoy your cruise.:)

[onewildrice]

I called my PVP from Carnival as I am very stressed about the no passport/no BC thing and he said that I only needed my Driver license. I do plan on printing my passport application status report that says it is currently being "processed",:rolleyes: I should think so, we applied March 15, lol! So I can only hope he knows what he is talking about!

I have never used the wrinkle release stuff, so will get some to see if I can work it.:)

I will also check out the lighthouse parking thing.

Thanks for everyones help. I am sure I will have more questions as it gets closer.
Oh, I do...see, told ya, we as a family have decided not to do the formal night just because I do not want to have to worry about that dressing fiasco all in itself. But I did wonder if that on all other nights if my husband wore khakis and a polo if his leather close-toed sandals are appropriate? I don't want to be eating pizza all week if he feels that he is standing out. The rest of us will all have our sandals on, just wondering about the men???

Sherry

[huskerdude]

[quote name='randykaye']Can I just say that it is SOOOOOOOOOOO hard to be at work right now!! We head down to galveston on sunday to leave on the ship on monday!!!!I am packing tomorrow and going thru last minute" do we have this and do we really need to take this?" questions!!! I can't wait to go and will be giving a full report when we get back!!!![/quote]

I know the rush you are talking about.:D
Is the no better day than the day at work before you are about to cruise?

Just can't believe you waited until now to pack.:confused:
We leave in 2 months and have been getting things together for awhile now. Maybe that's just our way of making it seem closer?
Enjoy.

Ernie

[bracus]

there is a basketball court and a vollyball court on the top deck in the back of the ecstacy

[GinnyJ]

Can someone tell me the earliest and latest they call for self debarkation?
Thank You!

[Snoozeman]

[quote name='GinnyJ']Can someone tell me the earliest and latest they call for self debarkation?
Thank You![/quote]

I will vary depending if they are early/late into port. I've seen it begin as early as 6:45 and as late as 7:45. On average I'd guesstimate a 7:15 a.m. start for 30 minutes or so. The Ecstasy usually goes fairly smooth.

[lady in tx]

I have a question and hopefully someone can help me here on this thread! I posted this question under the cabin selection tips but only I only had one response. I've been on this ship before on the empress level and my cabin was in the middle of the ship which was fine for me. But I'm boarding this ship again in august and this time my cabin is E-36. I'm kinda worried about the rocking. I tend to get motion sickness fairly easy. Does anyone know if it will be the same or worse?

Also, does anyone have a pic they would like to share w/me on how a cabin looks like w/an upper bed?
Thanks a bunch!!

[EastTexans2]

Well we just can't wait any longer and we are going to book a cruise for November 3, 2007. I'm waiting on a call from my CVP now. Finally got DH to agree to one more this year!

[EastTexans2]

We're booked! Is anyone else going on November 3, 2007 ?????

[Snoozeman]

[quote name='EastTexans2']We're booked! Is anyone else going on November 3, 2007 ?????[/quote]

check your roll-call

enjoy!!:)

[firefly333]

Me and my big mouth :o

My sister's friend I was trying to talk her into the Ecstasy INSTEAD of the Conquest, or two for one, the Conquest is 3 weeks before Disney Magic, two expensive cruises and Im not sure I want to pay for them both.

She decided since she likes us both to do BOTH of the cruises with us. eeeks :eek: She said she will call my PVP tomorrow to sign up for the Ecstasy with us on one of those bookings TOO. I am just a tad reluctant because Im in charge of driving us all there and she cant walk even one step in the auditorium where the shows are, we have to go early and save the last row. Its a bit confining to me. My sister is a bit disabled too, so Im with two disabled instead of one on TWO upcoming cruises, when I asked her to choose and said one or the other she could go with us, and asked her about switching from the Conqeust TO the Ectasy....now I dont know what to do or say.

[firebound82]

Just dropping by to say "hello"! My DH and I are first-timers on Ecstasy in October and we are counting down the days!

Thanks everyone for their advice and tips! Keep 'em coming! :D

[monakayk]

[quote name='lady in tx']I have a question and hopefully someone can help me here on this thread! I posted this question under the cabin selection tips but only I only had one response. I've been on this ship before on the empress level and my cabin was in the middle of the ship which was fine for me. But I'm boarding this ship again in august and this time my cabin is E-36. I'm kinda worried about the rocking. I tend to get motion sickness fairly easy. Does anyone know if it will be the same or worse?

Also, does anyone have a pic they would like to share w/me on how a cabin looks like w/an upper bed?
Thanks a bunch!![/quote]

[COLOR=Purple]OK found these photos over at Webshots of the bunk bed-cabins:

[URL]http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1437718075077050424RCYaIX[/URL]

[URL]http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1437717595077050424qANZSE[/URL]

You can see the entire album with photos of the Ecstasy here also:

[URL]http://travel.webshots.com/album/437699893mtxsdU[/URL]

Below my signature are links to my own photos of the ship and a review of my trip on the Ecstasy. Hope you have a great trip!:D[/COLOR]