CruzinScotty

Hi - the last time I was in Freeport the port itself just had nothing to do (I think 3 years ago), is this a return trip for you to Freeport? Would you say the port itself has more going on than on your previous trips. From your photos it looks like it does. We sail August 14th on Valor and were not planning on doing anything in Freeport more than just staying on the ship and maybe walking around the port.

 

Thanks

Perfect timing. We did just what you plan, got off for a bit to look around and then enjoy the ship. Yes, more stores are there than 3 years ago.

My next set of postings should be up later today. It covers the dock area. After I post it, feel free to ask any more specific questions you might have.

I love the positive review of the Ecstasy. She was our first cruise in 2002 and we absolutely loved her. I don't get all the negative comments, I know she's not as big as other ships, but smaller means less people, so to me it kind of equals out. At the time we thought she was humongous and were so impressed when we first entered and got our first glimpse of the inside.

THANK YOU!

I'm so glad we had so many first time cruisers on our trip. I'm happy they weren't afraid to start with a small ship by today's standards. I saw many Scopolamine patches, which is good because there is more movement than on the larger ships. But, compared to the ships of the past, the movement really is much less.

So many people have to have the biggest and best of everything; but that doesn't have to be what cruising is about.

We enjoyed cruising on the Ecstasy twice. Your review and pictures are fantastic! I'm looking forward to your "Reveal!" :D

I'm glad you are enjoying. Thanks for the nice comment on the pictures.

I can't tell by your response if you already knew the answer? :)

I saw your link in another thread recently about your "special room" on the Ecstasy.

Would you please share that link and explain a little about it and how it happened? I loved the pics and would love for everyone reading to see how nice it is up in the "suite" life!

This morning we ate inside; we saw Jolanta, our assistant waiter. We saw her often at breakfast and lunch. We enjoyed talking with her. She’s working her way up; but sure has to put in a lot of hours right now.

I decided to try the buffet this morning:

Remember, I mentioned the muffins changed; today they had Sticky Buns! Yum. And while it may look like chocolate chips in the muffin, they were actually toffee/mocha chips. Also good.

On the buffet, they also varied the menu ever so slightly. Today they had an egg burrito. It didn’t have fresh eggs in it; it was only OK. One morning they had a chicken burrito that looked a whole lot better, but it wasn’t there today.

OK

So it’s time for the Reveal!

If you are going to put a car on THIS ship - the Ecstasy, WHY on Earth would you put a Rolls Royce?

The answer is this baby:

The hood ornament, or bonnet ornament as the British call it, on a Rolls Royce is called……..

Drum roll please……

It’s…..

It’s…..

It’s……

The Spirit of Ecstasy!!!!

How cool! Both that it was on the ship, and kudos to DW for being so smart!

With this information, is it possible the name “Ecstasy” helped with the theming of the ship? I wonder…..The Rolls has to be on the ship because of the hood ornament “Spirit of Ecstasy”. Surely Joe Farcas knew this because the car is there. That might have brought forth the City Boulevard theme on the Promenade as the setting for it. As we’ve seen in the carpeting and the multi-colored lights, the “city theme” is throughout the ship. Hmmmm, just something to ponder.

Soon, let’s talk about the Freeport dock area

Since the sun now rises on the starboard side, I was up a little earlier. I headed up to the jogging track for a walk and some pics arriving in Freeport.

Stormy skies and barges re-fueling:

Freeport is definitely an industrial port:

You can kind of make out the sign for the Grand Bahama Shipyard. This is where Carnival does dry-dock for most of its ships:

Please make a note of the seawall at the bottom of that picture; we’ll come back to it!

I remember coming to Freeport back when there was literally nothing at the pier. My how things have changed:

We’re at the back of the ship and turning around:

It’s time for breakfast; and the Reveal!

Thursday, June 23rd: Freeport

Just wanted to say, I have enjoyed all your reviews, and am enjoying this one too. I have only been on one Fantasy class ship (Sensation), and loved it, actually was my first Carnival ship, and would go on one again, except, I found out last year that 5 day cruises, left me feeling so "not enough"! LOL, so this year I am doing a 6 day on Splendor.:D I have a feeling I will still come away feeling "not enough". Again, just wanting to say how much I am enjoying this review too.

WOW! Thanks so much for the nice comments. It means a lot that you've read all of my reports. Things like this give me the drive to keep going. I have another cruise in September on the Valor. It's a new ship for me, but the same itinerary as the Conquest in March. We loved the itinerary so much, I booked it because the Valor stops doing it in September. I wasn't sure if I would do another review since it would be so similar. You give me cause to think again about doing that review.

I understand what you mean about shorter cruises. I love 7 and 8 days ones the best. But, now that I've done a 5 day one from my home port; it opens up the world to catch a cruise from Charleston more often - with no extra travel involved. If I get more cruising out of it - it works for me. :D

Do you know?

After dinner, we went to look at photos. It’s one of the things we splurge on. And, we want to find the bad ones and put them in the “Bye-Bye” bin so no one else has to see them. LOL

Then, we went down City Lights Boulevard. Here are a few pics taken throughout the cruise, but put together for better narration.

There’s an entire car on the Boulevard! And, it’s a Rolls Royce! Did you know?

I did, because I had seen pictures while researching the ship.

And if you read all of the responses in this review, Bosoxfan5 mentioned it earlier.

DW did not know about the Rolls. However, that’s not what I’m talking about.

The first time she saw it, DW calmly said without hesitation, “there’s a reason a Rolls Royce is on this ship”.

Say What?

I see we’re on City Lights Boulevard and have no idea if there’s a specific reason there’s a Harley. No, I definitely don’t know this.

So…………………Do YOU know?

If you do – Mum’s the word. Feel free to post, “I know” if you'd like; I’ll spill the beans very soon. ;)

While we’re on the Boulevard, let’s check out the Stripes Lounge:

I tell ya, other than the carpet and artwork in the stairwells (and I’ll show you more of those later); I don’t get the "over the top" comments about this ship. I really like it.

Tonight was the night with the least activities. Oh wait, the Deck Party is tonight. We’ve done that in the past. It’s fun, but we haven’t been in years. I’m sure it was a blast for those that went.

We walked around the ship and people watched. We eventually made it to the Sports Deck to play “Putt Putt in the Dark”. They do have some lighting up there, but not much. And, I will say; it’s a great way to play without a crowd. LOL

We’ve never seen the Hasbro show, so we decided to attend the last part. With so many newbies, it was very crowded; and with lots of enthusiasm. I really enjoyed the vibe it brought to the ship.

The Hasbro show itself it….ehhh. I can understand those that don’t want to go again, unless you really want to participate. To each his own.

We settled back in the cabin for balcony time, journaling and then to bed.

Tomorrow: Freeport Awaits!

We haven't gotten to talk to anyone how excited we are about our stateroom location on Ecstasy for September but I figured you might just be the guy to share our excitement with & ask a question about it! We are going to be on Deck 7 Aft, even though it is right below the dining room because...there is a small staircase back there that goes right up to Serenity! Did you happen to discover & use this staircase?

Yes, you have come to the right place to share your cabin location and general excitement about going on the Ecstasy! If I didn't have a cruise on the Valor booked for the end of September, there's an Ecstasy cruise that goes to Half Moon Cay in mid-September I bet I'd be booked on. LOL

Your questions leads me to share a story I wasn't going to share because I missed getting a picture. It also answers your question.

So, as I mentioned, the Ecstasy was built way before the idea of Serenity came into being. The Serenity area is squeezed into the back of Deck 9. There are no restrooms directly in this area.

You have 2 choices. One is to walk thru the Starlight Lounge and the Society Bar, past the stairs and look on the port side to find them. It's a little walk and not something I'd recommend if you are wet as these are carpeted public areas.

The main restroom is down one level. On the port side of Serenity, you take stairs down. You go inside and see a single, multi-sex bathroom. next to that is a 2nd set of stairs going down another deck. I didn't think about it at the time; but this would be the staircase going to the Empress Deck. That will be VERY convenient for you!

The story I didn't share is that on our first sea day, when I took the picture of the ocean from the back of the ship; we could tell they were washing "something" below because we could see the spray of the hoses.

DW had used the downstairs restroom and said on the outside, there was a "crew only" sign and chain up. When I went down later, the sign and chain were not there. I walked around the corner. Directly below Serenity is a narrow deck with bucket style chairs going the length of the ship. Wow - what a wonderful and quiet area - I never knew about it. But, I didn't have my camera (to go to the bathroom), and later, the crew only sign and chain were back up. So, I guess it really is a crew area to have some privacy on the back of the ship. They work so hard, I'm glad they have this space, I just wish I had gotten that pic. :)

Oh snap - I just realized I can re-post this pic to at least show the area I'm taking about:

The red line along the back denotes The Empress Deck on that deck. One Deck up is Deck 8 - where the Wind Song Dining Room is. Look at the back. There's open space - this is the crew outside space. One deck up is Serenity and you can see the triangular seating areas outside the Lido above that.

Thanks so much for asking the question. You never know what door it might open. :D

How about an update on Your Time Dining

We’re noticed a pattern in the past. The first night, everyone is relaxing and many have had a late lunch. The Dining Room is not busy at opening. Formal Night is always busy; we know to get in line before they open. As the cruise goes on, the early-diners begin to catch on. The line before YTD opens gets longer and longer each night. And, while service may be better the first couple of nights, it can start lagging as well.

On larger ships, YTD is in the lower level of the dining room – where the Atrium Lobby is. On the Ecstasy, it is up one deck. So, you have more “space” than outside the aft Dining Room, but it’s not in the lobby. There are actually two lines that form around this deck that overlooks the Grand Atrium. Because of this, they initially do your assignment by hand. The person seating you gives a slip to the person that puts you in in the computer; making sure they know what tables are taken and which wait staff get their share of their tips! Each side of the line will be sat on that side of the dining room. We knew to be on the Starboard side to ask for Armando’s section. Success again!

We were excited this evening because now we were heading north and if we sat at this table – the last 3 evenings we’d be able to have the curtains open and enjoy this window-side table.

It didn’t turn out that way. So, you leave Nassau and head north and the sun is not in our face – curtains open. Then, the sun appears from nowhere, so we close the curtains. And then it’s gone again, so we open them again – back and forth a couple of times until we just left the curtains closed. I know Nassau and Freeport are close and we could make out Atlantis even after dinner; but was the Captain cutting circles or what? LOL

Tonight, the table next to us wanted to visit again. It was very nice, they were two sisters. One of them lived in our hometown and the sister visits often and is very familiar with it! We have a fun time chatting.

For my appetizers I chose black bean soup:

And the Chicken Quesadilla:

We were busy chatting and I missed taking a picture of dinner. I ordered something new so I have no previous cruise to borrow from. Oops….

I had the Jerk Pork. Armando was very specific when he told one of the sister’s and then myself when we each ordered it that it had a kick to it and he would be happy to bring something else if we didn’t like it.

The sister was served hers first. She quickly requested the pasta dish as a replacement. I tried the sauce and it really DID have a kick. Fortunately, the sauce was all on top of the pork. I was able to move most of it away so I only had a “little” kick. With this, I was able to enjoy it immensely.

Stealth Waiter and dinner planner extra-ordinaire – Armando - planned our meal perfectly again so we were awaiting dessert when it was Show Time! Tonight it’s “Gangham Style”. Like the song or not, it does have an infectious beat. :) Armando says he’s getting to old for the singing and dancing. LOL

On to dessert. I learned something on CC and tried it last cruise, but wanted to try a variation this time. You can order off of the kids menu. I haven’t seen a kids menu in years – I have no idea what’s on it. But, I do know for dessert, they have chocolate chip cookies which I ordered on the Conquest.

Tonight, I’m being a kid again and ordering:

Boy was that good!

Some in my party didn’t believe I could or would order it so they let me order first before they let their inner child out as well. :D

Also this evening, I had some of the adult Strawberry Cheesecake:

And no, the service did not lag behind tonight. We were usually done in an hour and a half; give or take 5 minutes every single night.

Coming soon– Do you know????

We went to the bow for Sail Away.

Here you can see The Straw Market, Senior Frogs, The British Colonial Hilton and a new hotel (?) that had a sign indicating Senior Frogs would be a tenant:

The Majesty of the Seas left just before us. Here are a few pictures as we left.

Next: Dinner, Cutting Circles(?) and you CAN be a kid again! (And not by cutting circles….)

Lunch on board the ship:

With many people out exploring, we’re contemplating what to eat as there are no lines anywhere! My choice:

You can order a specialty pizza; but you must take the entire pie. I had cheese, pepperoni, mushroom and Proscuito. Yum. I will say that with more toppings, the middle of the thin crust gets a little soggy – I think the mushrooms are the main culprit. Is it “New York style” where you take the piece of pizza and fold it over? That worked just fine.

And you’ll notice we’re back in “our” spot. ;)

For dessert:

The chocolate chip cookies are offered every day. The Banana Cream Pie is the same offered at the Sea Day Brunch, the Raspberry Torte is…..….good.

Next, we changed clothes and headed to Serenity to find loungers in the shade.

Here’s a hint: when heading to Serenity from the Lido, there are stairs outside. It may take a while for people to figure out you can get there from the inside of Deck 9. Just go thru the Starlight Lounge and exit in the aft – either side.

Here are a couple not-so-great pics of this Vegas Style Lounge:

So, it’s hot tub time and then nap time on the aft of the Ecstasy. Poor, poor, pitiful us…. LOL

I’d like to mention another nice staff member, a woman named Lady. Yep, that’s what her nametag said. She was in charge of signing out the Serenity Towels. As you can tell, we saw her a lot.

Today, here’s the view from the hot tub:

Don’t it just make you want to cry? Or maybe – book your next cruise to….anywhere!

Time to get cleaned up for Sail Away.

We headed out the other end of the Straw Market – thru the center isle - to this beautiful view:

Heading back to the ship, here’s a horse drawn carriage, Bahamian Style:

Can you see my “Carolina Girl” in the picture? You know they say, they’re the” best in the world”. That’s why I married her. Why she married me is a mystery to this day. ;)

Are you ready for your close-up?

As we head to the ship, this is the best vantage to see all 4 ships in port today:

Majesty of the Seas, Norwegian Sky, Carnival Ecstasy and Norwegian Gem

And a proper trip review of Nassau would not be complete without a picture of Atlantis:

Coming soon – Lunch and more

We stop in a few stores, looking for air-conditioning every chance we could. We glanced at jewelry and did a nice job of not buying. :)

Eventually, we came to:

Here are some items for sale:

Here’s a couple of pictures in the center of the Straw Market:

PLEASE, don’t be deceived by the last two photos. We’re not crowd people. You can see the higher ceilings and more open walkways – this is the CENTER isle of the Straw Market. The side isles of the Straw Market are very close together, crowded and claustrophobic. You have been warned. :D

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It’s time to get off the ship in Nassau. On the pier, here’s a close-up of the aft balconies:

We’re in the middle deck, third in from the left…but on the other side.

And, here is the entire ship:

Sometimes you have to dig, but you can find some very useful information on Cruise Critic. After returning from this cruise I learned something the above picture illustrates perfectly.

I knew that only 3 of the 8 Fantasy Class ships have the added balconies; the Ecstasy, Sensation – and….I don’t know the third. I didn’t know if it was an experiment or not. Will they add on to more ships? Don’t know. Will they add more balconies to the ships that have them – DEFINITELY not.

They can’t. It all has to do with the lifeboats. In the picture above, see how high they are on the ship? There’s no way to get them into the water if balconies ran the distance of the ship? Who knew? I didn’t, but now we all do!

So let’s start touring a bit.

I was in Nassau on the Sunshine last September; my last previous visit was in February of 2006 on the Celebration out of Jacksonville. I had heard so many negative comments about Nassau between those cruises. How pushy people were, etc. I remember the days of them bugging you about hair braiding right on the pier; but by 2006, security had changed and you didn’t have issues until you left the gate and I didn’t remember them being horrible.

Last September – I finally understood the complaints. WOW – the barrage of people trying to sell you a tour or taxi to Atlantis.

What. A. Turnoff.

So, I was expecting it this time….and…….there were only a few people asking to take tours. They weren’t as forceful and they were a LOT nicer. Hmmmmmm – has someone FINALLY been listening?????

Outside the fenced area, we headed inland a block. We like to stop at Rawson Square just to see a nice quiet spot away from the hustle and bustle:

We rested for a few minutes. We knew to bring water and STAY HYDRATED. It is hot, hot HOT!

When we got to the corner, this nice policer officer spoke with us and helped us across the street:

I really like the colorful buildings here:

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Thanks for the great review. Beautiful pics.

I appreciate the nice comments, I'm glad you are enjoying.

I should have more to post tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

Thanks for the review.

I'm going on the Valor in September, so always looking for useful information.

I heard a while back that they are supposed to change to the American Table in September; but I don't know if that's still the case. I like both menus, so either is fine by me.

On the Lido, I found people! They are up and hungry. The buffet lines are long, but they haven’t found the omelette station yet . It’s where the Mongolian Wok is during lunch. Today, I’ll show my omelette being made:

Remember I mentioned earlier that I’d get back to the tile floors on the Lido?

It’s tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!

While we were getting breakfast on the Lido, someone fell. Thankfully, they were not hurt.

The floors were very slick.

OK – let’s just throw this out there right now - please don't tell me not to wear flip flops. LOL

I was wearing tennis shoes and let me tell you, it was slip and slide time. :eek:

The floor was particularly bad at the back of the lido near the doors; but it came all the way up to the Sweet Spot - muffin/pastry area. An officer was there waiting on crew to come work on the floors. He said the humidity was the problem.

Jumping ahead: the next morning we had the same issue. DW showed me the best way to move around - slide your feet. It looks weird, but IT WORKS wonderfully. You can tell the EXACT point where the humidity has made the floor wet. The rest of the floor was just fine. And the floors were only slick the two mornings we had just arrived in Nassau and Freeport.

Wierd. Must be land related? It was also humid at sea and while in Charleston; but we weren't on the Lido in Charleston in the morning.

I sure hope this is something they fix soon......

Anyways……the reason we were at the back of the Lido is we had breakfast in our favorite outdoor eating spot:

It was cloudy and there was a wonderful breeze. Very relaxing. We’re not in a hurry, we enjoyed people watching; with the Carnival tours following the guides onto catamarans and what not.

When we went to the cabin to freshen up; I’m still getting used to seeing this so early; but I like it:

The Norwegian Gem from our cabin:

And from our balcony:

I’m glad there is an empty slip next to us; it gave a better view and more of a breeze.

Time to go ashore.

Coming soon: Who has been reading these boards? They might just be listening!

I slept in a little later this morning. I like to post sunrise photos but don’t have any yet. So, here’s another picture of the morning moon from our balcony:

We could see a Norwegian ship ahead of us, it’s time to head to the front of the ship and see what’s to be seen. I walked on the jogging track.

We’re still aways from port:

Today, I found a new deck I hadn’t noticed yesterday:

As you can tell, it was very quiet up here; but also kind of early. Maybe people aren’t awake yet.

Today, we are backing in to the pier:

I just LOVE how the water churns with these beautiful colors in the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

Now, it’s time for breakfast!

Wednesday, June 22nd: Nassau

There are many variables here.

Not every ship has the form. Yet.

John Heald posted a picture of the "new and improved" form that has morning, evening and "both".

But, the original forms were printed in bulk so not all of the ships that have the form are using the new form. Yet.

On the Ecstasy last month, this ship is using the form; it is the old form. DW spoke to the cabin steward as many have said and discussed our need for twice daily service.

One problem in the recent past has been when the form does not say "both" some cabin stewards were not told you CAN still have both - and were refusing to do so. Supposedly, this has been reviewed with the crew. Are there any stragglers out there that don't know - or want to know - who knows? LOL

I thought I had read that American Table hadn't been rolled out on the Ecstasy yet. How were the food choices? I have read many comments that people preferred the "old" dining room menus. Either way works for me. I'm on vacation and someone else is cooking! 29 days and counting!!

Not that anyone is counting. ;)

I think I didn't make myself clear about the water on the table.

The Ecstasy is still on the old menus. I have had the old menu and the American Table; there are many things on both that I like. In fact, I'd be happy if the ships were split 50/50 with old and new to give some variety. But, how to split them would be a headache, I'm sure.

On the American Table, they have large pitchers of water on the table, and iced tea if you are having that. You can serve yourself, though you can ask a server to do it. It is very convenient because the wait staff (on both menus) seem to be stretched tighter and tighter.

The point I was trying to make is that Armando runs such a "tight ship" ;) in his dining section that instead of needing to wait for the water glasses to be refilled; it was a non-issue. They, Jolanta in particular, were refilling the glasses often.

The withdrawal is real!! I would like to go on the Valor. I heard really great things about it!! Really enjoying the review. It is helping with my withdrawals from the cruise addiction! I thought about taking a cruise until my cruise...lol

I've been wanting to go on the Valor for a long time. It stops doing 7 and 8 day cruises when the Sunshine gets to Port Canaveral this fall. I don't go to Florida often for a cruise shorter than that, so the opportunity is slipping away - I had to grab that one while I could!

Yes, Come October, I'll be searching for trip reports galore. LOL

As if there is any other way!! :D

:) :D

This pic says it all!!! I can get lost just staring out at that view!! :)

I'm right there with ya!

I usually have that or a similar picture as my screen saver. Though at the moment, I have the globe from The Explorer's Club.

Time for a show and more

We headed to the Blue Sapphire for the Motor City pre-show. There was a great crowd; with many willing participants. Here is our cruise’s version of The Supremes:

:D

The first time cruisers helped to fill this theater; it was full. I really liked this show, I’ve not seen it before.

Next, in the Grand Atrium it’s time for Motown Trivia. The Playlist Players continue the vibe from the show with some singing and dancing. You can see them all dressed in white around the bar – with a very enthusiastic audience:

This was our first chance to see our Cruise Director, Benjamin. I know I’m getting old, but gosh, this guy looked sooooo young! I found out later he’s in his late 20’s. No wonder.

We did this on the Conquest and had a great time. I was hoping we would enjoy it, but hoped it wouldn’t be an exact repeat. I like that Carnival allows each Cruise Director to “do their own thing”. Benjamin does his music trivia a little different, which was nice. And, I was especially happy there were very few repeat songs. Which is good, considering the Motown playlist has so many great songs to choose from.

Afterwards, we headed to the cabin for relaxing on the balcony and journaling all of that exhausting relaxing we did today. ;)

Tomorrow is Nassau!