BoDidly

40 minutes ago, Gatordad815 said:

Any tips on how to find a good TA for a family cruise sincerely appreciated!

Read on line review experiences, then read some more.  Google searches will show you a slew of em.

7 minutes ago, MooNGaTe27 said:

Has any one used FTTF on the Sunshine out of Charleston. I have a member in out group that cant stand for a long time & was wondering do you go in a different line & have a diferent waitting area.I believe you get to your cabins before 1pm also is this true .Any input would help 

 

We had our daughter use FTTF on Sunshine for our family cruise last year.  Separate line but can be congested at times. Strange port indeed traffic flows steady or is either backed upped at times. The best thing about this port is Handicapped parking is still free here. All the other ports have opted out unless you're in a handicapped equipped vehicle .

Not sure if Charleston has a lounge for Diamond / Platinum , FTTF . We have never noticed it. 

11 minutes ago, pcvtmom said:

Were you on the same cruise?

No ,the cruise after yours. 

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

If people keep sailing on them, they will keep running them. While I do not remember of the Ecstasy as a rust buck, she is a little long in the tooth.  I actually gave a really good idea to some senior managers at Carnival on what they should do with the Fantasy class, but they were just mildly interested.....

Fantasy class still has life in them for sure, perhaps taken out of line and completely remodel them fixing all known problems . And do so before the customer gets blindsided into booking a cabin with problems already known by Carnival.  Very misleading to the customer paying and expecting clean breathable cabins to enjoy.

Poo Deck two air is not sanitary, very unhealthy for the human being to breath. That section should never have been allowed for booking.

25 minutes ago, rolloman said:

 It is important to make sure you are satisfied and if you are blowing off the MDR (while it still exits) they make a habit of finding out why. Customer satisfaction survey still is very powerful in the cruise industry, no one can afford to take a hit.

It did seem strange that they know the individual people that no longer visit the MDR by face recognition alone.

Keeping tabs on their customers and going as far as to single them out to question them as to why they no longer visit the MDR is by far to extreme for my taste.  Are they keeping records on how much shampoo is used per individual or even toilet paper for that mater.  

21 minutes ago, rolloman said:

The trend continues to eventually eliminate the main dining room and force everyone to the buffet, hamburger, pizza lines or specialty upcharge dining. 

It's already happen for us. As a matter of fact the this past cruise the MDR hostess came up to us during breakfast in the buffet area and plane out asked us why we no longer visited the MDR. . My wife being polite explained it was just a quick getaway for us and didn't want to bother with formalities.  I personally would have stated more but the quick hand on mine begged me to hold my tongue . Still I'm a bit miffed as to how the hostess knew ? 

OP , I think is coming . I also think the sister line in testing the waters so to speak.

She was still in Freeport  Feb 27th . Still looked to being worked on.

19 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

I’m with you, Bo. 

 

With the addition of Guys Burgers and BlueIguana Cantina, I was very excited to board the Ecstasy.  I’m okay with Fantasy class ships, however, I will never sail on Ecstasy again.  The last time was in December 2017 and our room smelled AWFUL the moment we walked in. 

 

I told Guest Services and they sent a guy up immediately.  He was in our room from 3pm to 10 pm,  when it was finally fixed. We were comped a bottle of wine and lobster so that was nice.

 

However, the rest of the ship was falling apart like no other.  Some restroom doors didn’t close or lock.  An elevator was not even working the entire time. The furniture in the dining room and common areas seemed dingy.  The entire ship was just so worn. 

 

So glad that it moving out of Charleston.

 

Thanks your post tells me that it is an on going problem with blank stares at guest services.  Our comp was blank stares .  You were comped at least 👍

3 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

Thanks for the review, Bo.

 

Although I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy your cruise, at least one can know what to expect ahead of time. I hope your wife’s surgery goes well and you can schedule a really nice cruise as a way to celebrate soon.

That's the point and to the point of my posting this review. 👍 Thanks for bringing the comments.

11 minutes ago, teknoge3k said:

Was your comedian Kelly Terranova? That's the only comedian I can think of with a 'nova' name on Carnival. He's pretty funny I think. 

Kelly Terranova , yup that's the name. He was pretty funny to , the first time round. But after five or six times several years apart perhaps find some new material to recite. 

9 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

Then why did you cruise on an 18 year old ship? This one is ready for the old folks farm.

Guilty as sin crzndeb 😉. Reasoning .Two beautiful green eyes and a quick anniversary getaway before spring break set in on a ship that we once loved . Timing ,before her knee surgery !

A short non sweet review 😖.

Most of you that know me know I dislike doing reviews, love to read them though !

Also some of you may know I am a well seasoned cruiser .  I'll get straight to the point. 

Ecstasy is a ship I and family have  enjoyed in the past several times over. This time not so much.

Even to the point the point of saying we will never board this ship again. 

The first part will be main deck has become seriously disruptive with a horrible poo smell .

Going to guest services and complaining will simply get you disgruntled surly faces .

They're tired of hearing the complaints and it shows the minute you comment on it.

This is a serious problem with this ship people.

Second part ,Never fazed them , response's were we'll have someone look at it. No smiles nothing.

Ecstasy has never ,ever had this problem in the past while we sailed . Something or sewage pipe has become separated somewhere down the line.

No apology offered or considered . Carnival knows this is a serious problem but continue to book the deck /cabins .

Good things were , the comedy club was really great with RJ Brow jaming on his guitar while popping the jokes.

The other comedian Nova something ( can't recall his name ) needs to fine some new material, heard the same show for years now.

 Dave Wilder was killer at the piano bar ! 

Food , subjective not a fan of Carnivals food.

Ship has become a rust bucket, the truth . The staff working on welding the frames on rusted windows while in motion.

Fumes burning my eyes while using the aft elevators aft of deck nine.

Diamond / Platinum party was like an in and out drive through with two cars in line, that quick.

Servers came around twice for drinks and twice with sushi trays then disappeared .

A guitar player played a few songs then a flash of the ships well you know the rest of that old fiddle playing tune.

Here's a thought revamp the party and bring in a comedian , tell a few jokes and liven the party up a bit .

We have seen the ships , no one even clapped for the video showing the ships. Get rid of it !

Who really gives a good jelly bean how many beans are jammed in that damn jar 🤣.

Or  Mr 400 sea days who has five hundred plaques to show for it  ??

Just me being me .

2 hours ago, LPut714 said:

Shower curtain is long enough that you can rest your foot/leg on the toilet while shaving. Minimal time and mess. That way dont have to carry extra stuff

Every time I read a post like yours it reminds me of the comedian who said,

" You gotta love Carnival bathrooms , it's the only place where you can ship ,shower and shave all at the same time. "

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

When the OPTION of picking first came out, there were some here who felt it was a Carnival conspiracy to alter cruising as we know it.  This thread, and the reason and choices shown here, show it really is about having options.

It has changed cruising as we know it with the options . Those that don't know about the option are not given the option by some Stewards .I still feel it will change to one time a day cleaning when some of the complaints calm down. 

10 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I do not doubt that it happens.  That said, there are solutions to the problem to handle any rogue RS.  For the record, they can get an assistant.  The point of my post was/is is that this idea has merit and is working as intended.   

For the record the Steward will have to pay the assistant out of pocket.  It's a mell of a hess. and becomes even less pay for the Steward.

I took my Grand kids back there . Noone said a word.  It was kind of like deadvill . Music was blaring but still rather nice.

On 2/22/2019 at 12:51 PM, Davey Wavey said:

 

I also book my own. On my 25th, I got my regular Platinum card and nothing else. I happened to be sitting with a woman talking about how many cruises we had taken. When I said this was my 25th, she asked where my special card was. She happened to be wearing one of those cards except it was 50th milestone for her. I went to customer service and they pulled up my cruise history and counted..."yep you and your wife have 25." He went in back and brought back some generic white cards for us. When I got back to the room, he called and said they had issued an OBC of 25% for me and my wife for that cruise even though I didn't ask for that. I guess it was fine since most of mine are "free" from the casino. It didn't feel like anything special. 

I honestly think this is the 🌊 wave of the future . In otherwords be your own PVP . Make the calls necessary that benefits you !

2 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

We just got off Sunshine yesterday and there were two big negatives, although we had a great time despite these issues. 

 

First, the Limelight Lounge where they hold comedy shows is ridiculously small for the number of passengers on the ship. Additionally, a good percentage of the seats have limited to no view of the stage and can only watch TVs in the lounge to see the comedians. 

 

Second, although very nice to look at, the Serenity area is anything but serene, to quote my wife.  For starters, on the first two sea days, every chair/lounger was occupied/claimed by 7:30 AM on deck 11, where the pool is located. Also, it is literally like you are at the Lido pool, since you can clearly hear music and activities on the Lido deck on deck 11 and 12 in the Serenity area. Deck 14 in the Serenity area is a little quieter, but it gets very windy up there and it was closed numerous times during our cruise due to excessive wind.

 

At the D&P party I talked to several of the senior officers about these issues. They said both areas are a frequent source of complaints, which is why they are changing the Limelight Lounge layout and not duplicating the Serenity area on Radiance and Sunrise. 

 

Overall I think Sunshine is a good ship, but if you like going to comedy shows and/or you like a quiet Serenity area, I would consider another ship.  If these issues aren’t important to you, than no doubt in my mind you will enjoy Sunshine. 

My thoughts are the same , packed but doable.

Very fair review👍 Thanks for sharing.

Yes the port of call boards are slow, hope you find the answer you're looking for 😊

12 minutes ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Pizza is just pizza and the wait is insane, deli closes at 11 so it won't be open when we get there between 11:30-1am and room service, not going to sit in my cabin twiddling my thumbs waiting for food and wasting my night in the cabin.  Aren't they going to have some type of sports bar area where they sell food late at night for a fee?

Red Frog Pub .

In terms of bar bites, passengers on Carnival Breeze, Carnival Magic, Carnival Vista and Carnival Horizon will find items like coconut shrimp, conch fritters, jerk pulled pork sandwiches and beef sliders with a Caribbean twist -- for an added fee. (Note: The RedFrog Pub is found on other ships in the fleet, but food is not served there, due to lack of galley facilities.)

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2328

No , not really most of that food was wasted or showed up the next day in some kind of chef special  on the buffet. 

🤢

They get more than pot through.  A few years back after leaving Jamaica even the CD told people if they had anything ( Not Cubin cigars )to get rid of it before we hit our debarkation port .

Embarkation ports usually don't have the dogs but I have noticed them on some occasions on Debarkation. Sometimes the port of call will.  Noticed dogs in Coz ,Jamaica ,Belize , Dominica etc .I could go on but you get the point.  Also noticed armed Military personnel in some ports.

Call a friend ???