Honolulu Blue

I've done the horse racing thing on my longer Carnival cruises. I even got to "jockey" once (didn't win). I'm pretty sure they still run them. The details were different in some of these races, and they may be different than the experiences you and others have had. Mine were always in lounges - usually the main theater - and never by the pool.

Well, they've been on 34 cruises and took their first one at the ripe old age of 4. Cruising has certainly changed since then. Thanks everyone for your comments. Keep 'em coming!

Mr. Heald did a post with more details on today's memorabilia auction: I will waddle down the promenade deck to the Blue Sapphire Lounge to host an auction of some of the memorabilia of the life of this ship. I will share more about this later but hopefully we will raise a lot of money for St.Jude. I was asked why we are doing this and the reason is that when the ship arrives in Turkey hoards of people will come on board and take everything, I mean everything. They have paid for the ship, they have every right to of course. But when I decided to be on this voyage I asked the senior beards to please allow me to do this auction. There are some things that belong in good homes of people who have a connection to the ship and to Carnival and that’s why I am doing this. I can’t sadly do this online, it will be just for the people here on the ship but I will share the totals with you and I wish you could be here. In the same post, he also discussed what will happen to the Ecstasy after it leaves Mobile. It's much the same as has been reported elsewhere, and still too much for those sensitive souls out there.

Thanks for sharing. Please keep us updated if you can.

Cruise.blog did an article on stuff that's disappearing on (some) cruises at https://cruise.blog/2022/10/nostalgic-cruise-traditions-being-phased-out . It's a good article, well worth reading and dodging the landmines, IMHO. Here are the items that were mentioned: Midnight buffets Chocolate buffet Intricate ice carvings and demonstrations Cruise recap video Themed menus every night Chocolates on your pillow In-person muster drills Rooms with portholes Printing every photo taken Printed daily cruise schedules No poll this time, I'll just ask straight out: Which of these "traditions" do you miss most? Which ones don't you miss at all? I guess I'll start. I will miss the daily schedules most when they go. I've actually gotten full ones on the cruises I've taken since the pandemic, but I've heard of reductions in this area and I'm sure they will affect me eventually. Much as the Chief doesn't like to hear it, I don't think the in-person muster drills are coming back any time soon, and that's fine with me.

This second post covers Mr. Heald's posts from the past few days. He's continued to post short videos from his trip around the ship, and also made this post detailing today's memorabilia auction: Some of the things I will be auctioning off tomorrow. Some very special memorabilia including the remains of the bottle used by Kathie Lee Gifford to christen the ship, one of the original wheels, plaques, assigned flag which has been flying on the bow up until this morning and so much more. All will go to Saint Jude children’s research Hospital. I'm sorry I don't have time to attach the pictures he shared of the memorabilia items. I recommend going to look at them (you'll have to scroll down a bit to find this post). It looks like there are a bunch of "first visit to" plaques are going to be auctioned off. I saw the Cayman Islands, among many others. I didn't see the signage that @mz-sand @BasicSailordesired in an earlier post, but that doesn't mean any or all of them aren't on the list.

I'll split this into two posts to not be so cluttered. First is a YouTube video from vlogger Derek of Island Time. In this video is clips that were sent to him from a couple of the Ecstasy's Q&A sessions - one shows the Captain explaining what's going to happen to the Ecstasy (which is as Mr. Parker explained in yesterday's video, and remains unsettling for sensitive fans), and the other is about... other interesting things:

I got an email from TEC this afternoon. They announced another theme night - slumber party. Oh boy. 😒 I last wore pajamas when I was a little kid back in the 80s, so I guess the time period fits. Then as an afterthought, they dropped a bomb that was bigger than the Gap Band - Jody Watley is canceling on us. 😭 Nooooooo! Life is so unfair! I was so looking forward to seeing her. Oh well. Maybe they'll find someone decent to replace her.

I'm trying to imagine what shows would be broadcast live from there. Its seating capacity is much too small for a main theater show, and it's a bit snug for a comedy lounge. Live trivia would be much too boring to broadcast.

I've been to Princess Live on the Regal and Majestic. They host some trivia here and some groups use it to stage their disembarkations. I'm pretty sure the Wake Show is filmed there, though I'm equally sure there's no "live studio audience" when they do that. They do other shows and activities there. I'm too lazy to look at my newsletters to see which ones. I hope you get a more thorough answer from others.

Blogger/vlogger Doug Parker of cruiseradio.net did a quick summary of what's going to happen to the Ecstasy after this cruise returns to Mobile, according to a Q&A session with Mr. Heald, the captain, and some other officers. The report starts about 1 minute in. WARNING: Not suitable for sensitive audiences. 😪 TL,DW: 3 day sail to Miami, offload some equipment (slot machines, computers, etc.), then sail 17 days to Turkey (Aliaga), captain and pilot scheduled to do the dirty deed on November 8. ☠️

I just wanted to note that the OP's wishes were answered and Mr. Heald addressed the Bermuda testing situation in one of his posts yesterday. Here's a link to his post: John Heald - So with the Bermuda and the continuing... | Facebook . The relevant info is the same as was posted above.

Here are some local TV stations that reported on Ecstasy's last revenue cruise. They're all around 2 minutes long. The first two have soundbites from Mr. Heald:

I received an e-mail with the planned COVID-19 protocols for all of StarVista's cruises through the spring of 2023, of which the UDC is one. They're mostly sticking to what they did last year - vaccine required (but no booster), proctored test required 3 days before sailing. This is quite a contrast to some other music charters I have heard about that are thrilled to get rid of testing and vaccine requirements as fast as the cruise lines would allow them. Enhanced requirements do make sense for StarVista's cruises because they skew older than many other cruises, both in terms of their passenger and performer ages. It will be interesting to see what TEC does. I don't expect them to do anything, but we'll see.

For those who can't see the poll choices, they are - fewer than 4 days, 4-6 days, 7 days exactly, 8-12 days, 13-16 days, more than 16 days, and can't remember. By the way, count all legs of a back-to-back, if any of you were ambitious enough to schedule one off the bat. I'm curious about this, and I THINK I know what's going to come out on top even in this veteran group, but I'm willing to be surprised. As always, thank you for replying.

I think we're getting confused here. The ship @gkbiiii and I were discussing was the GRAND CELEBRATION, formerly the CARNIVAL CELEBRATION (not to be confused with the new CARNIVAL CELEBRATION, which will start sailing next month). That one is in the Holiday Class, since the Grand Celebration and the Carnival Celebration are the same ship. The Carnival Ecstasy, the ship in the title of this thread, is in the Fantasy class, which is NOT THE SAME CLASS as the one the old Carnival Celebration/Grand Celebration is in.

Yes.

Holiday class. For more details on the Grand Celebration/Carnival Celebration, head to Celebrating the Life of the Grand Celebration - Cruise Industry News .

The ship Bahamas Paradise sold was the old Carnival Celebration, which was NOT a Fantasy-class ship.

Mr. Heald has been posting some videos of his day; including the terminal, his cabin, and several things in between.

He posted a video about an hour ago that showed his luggage made it to his cabin. I guess he doesn't need that stuff from Wally World after all.

Welcome! I like your packing style so much that I use it myself! I've done a few cruises and I prefer to leave the porters and ship baggage handlers for those that need it. The main gotchas have already been mentioned - your room might not be ready when you embark (though you might be able to drop your luggage off in the room - YMMV) and you have to be prepared to carry EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE until the room is ready. It's no fun carrying 30 pounds of stuff up and down 8 flights of stairs, I assure you. I think it's worth it, but you'll have to decide that for yourself. One other piece of advice is since you're packing relatively light, be sure to monitor what you missed and perhaps remember to take it along next time. Enjoy your cruise, whenever it is.

I'm a little disappointed to hear this, but I know in my heart of hearts what you're saying is true. When I walked off the Summit in November '17, I was one of the first 10 people off. I don't expect to be nearly as lucky on my upcoming trip on the Millennium next month. Self-disembarkation seems to have been a much more popular option on the other cruise lines I've tried, and it seems Celebrity is just catching up. P.S. 300+ people in line on the Summit! Why, I remember the good old days when there were barely 300 passengers on the ship! I'll always remember my September 2021 trip fondly.

I booked a last minute cruise in September 2021 that was 6 days before embarkation. It wasn't on Carnival though. I've booked some Carnival cruises after final payment. I think a month is about as last minute as I've done on CCL.

My trip on the Celebrity Summit in September 2021 was similar in some ways to what @Aquahounddescribed above, but in some ways different. Ovation OTS is a lot larger than the Summit (which holds 2200 at double occupancy), but we had even fewer passengers - only 320, which was 15% of capacity. I also thought the experience was mostly great, but sometimes wondered where all the people were. No lines, no crowds, and sometimes no other passengers in my line of sight - even in the busiest of places. I had an ocean view on deck 7. I don't think there were any limits on where I could have booked or stayed. I got the feeling there were very few people in OVs on this sailing; everyone else seemed to be in balconies or suites. Also, I booked this with exactly 6 days' notice - purchase on a Tuesday, embark on the next Monday. This was an ordinary revenue cruise from Miami, where the Summit had just relocated from St. Maarten. Not free, but inexpensive.