CruzinScotty

Dinner and a Show

Last fall, they removed lobster from Formal Night on cruises 5 nights or less. But, they still have prime rib and have added a few new items as well.

We were in line early and wanted to ask for our same table with Armando, the “Stealth Waiter”. As the week progressed and he saw we would become regulars, he opened up a lot more. He’s been with Carnival for 26 years! Oh the places he must have traveled to over the years. I didn’t mention our assistant server last night, Jolanta from Poland (pronounced Yolanda). She’s was very helpful as well. One thing I like with the American Table is having water at the table. It was a non-issue on this cruise. The glasses were being refilled constantly. Very nice.

The table next to us was very close. Tonight there was a couple on their honeymoon. Surprisingly, they wanted to visit; we had a nice time talking with them. The bride had visited Cruise Critic and we discussed the fact there was a very nice Ecstasy review that was written in one long post; but there wasn’t a recent long one with lots of photos. She just added fuel to my fire! If you’re reading – thanks!

We enjoyed talking so much, I forgot to take some pictures! :eek:

But, I can borrow a few from the Sunshine last year. Here is the new scallop/risotto appetizer:

I really like this addition – I LOVE scallops. (Even though I'm pretty sure they aren't the real thing since they are the same size. LOL)

My other appetizer was the authentic Caesar Salad. You know what authentic is, right? The dressing has ground anchovies in it. I really liked it.

For dinner, I must borrow from the Sunshine for the Roast Duck:

The duck was much better than on the Sunshine. Duck was better on the Ecstasy, banana bread better on the Conquest: things definitely vary from ship to ship. That’s why you just have to keep going again and again. :) And again.

In perfect timing, between dinner and dessert, it’s time for the Dinner Show. Lots of upbeat music for napkin waving . Tonight’s song is, “That’s Amore”. There was more napkin-waving and people dancing to the song than I’ve seen in years. We noticed a lot of first time cruisers; their enthusiasm really added to the atmosphere.

For dessert is Cherries Jubilee:

And, you didn’t think I could forget the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, did you?

Next, the rest of our evening.

Charleston has always been a dream city of mine to visit. I'm glad Southwest flies there now and we got a great deal out of Chicago for our September cruise. We have an entire day to explore Charleston.

I'm so glad you'll have some time to get a taste of Charleston before your cruise.

Southwest has really helped expand the direct flight destinations from here. It used to be you had to go thru Atlanta or Charlotte to get anywhere.

Enjoy your cruise and thanks for reading.

Great review. Thanks

I appreciate the comment, thanks for reading.

Thanks so much for such a sweet review..I agree with you about Fantasy class and love the sauna, steam and spa with no extra fees...I loved the movie in the second big lounge too...very cool of you to save money and bunk..thanks a million for sharing the cruise, food and Charleston!!! Would love to spend a week there and then cruise...Viva relaxed cruisin..thanks for all the effort!!!

I'm so glad we re-discovered the Fantasy class.

I'm happy you are enjoying the review.

Come on down to Charleston. Travel and Leisure just voted it the number one city in the WORLD! :D

It makes me beyond happy that the steel drum music is back. I loved it on the Inspiration on our honeymoon in 2002. It was gone three years ago on the Victory. We sail the Ecstasy in September. I am loving your review.

I heard the steel drum was coming back on some ships. It wasn't on the Conquest in March. I'm glad it's on the Ecstasy, and am glad you will be, too. :)

I'm also happy you're enjoying.

We found even more people having a good time:

And, back by popular demand:

As a long-time cruiser, I am one that missed the steel drum on the ship. In fact, on the Emerald Seas in 1985, I don’t remember his name; but the man that said he INVENTED the steel drum was the one playing it on that cruise. No internet back then, but there is now, so I did a little research. It seems the steel drum goes back a lot further. But there are several types of steel drums and one called the Spiderweb pan is attributed to a man who would have been the right age at the time. Reading his name and reading about the Spiderweb pan did bring back memories for me to believe he was the guy. Very cool.

I also enjoyed that they are doing a better job of moving the music around. The steel drum player was near the casino one evening, and even in the Grand Atrium on another. I found it especially interesting that he could play modern music that most older folks would not like at all; but with no lyrics and on the steel drum – it just sounded like a great island tune. I’m talking “Blurred Lines” here! :eek:

Since our cabin is in the aft of the ship; we stopped by the Wind Song Dining Room to check out tonight’s menu. As I said, I didn’t get pics of either dining room, but I got the ships model each one was named after. Here’s the Wind Song:

We relaxed on the balcony and took turns getting ready for Formal Night. Yes, the balcony really made the difference in giving us that extra space.

We headed to the Wind Star Dining Room early because we know Formal Night is always the busiest. Here is the Wind Star model :

The line had not formed yet, so we went next door to The Explorer’s Club – it’s such a great place to chill. And get a pic:

Coming Soon: Our Formal Dinner!

Well, I walked before breakfast; it’s time to walk after lunch. Let’s see if we can get a few pics along the way.

The lighting is a little better inside Chinatown now:

And up on deck:

This is beautiful, no matter how big or small the ship. The Whale Tail, blue seas, a calm ocean – if you don’t “get” this picture – cruising is not for you. LOL But then again, you wouldn't be this far into a trip review if you didn't know what you were getting yourself into!

We finally made it up to the jogging….make that walking track! Boy, was it windy up here today.

Here's lot’s of putt-putters out having fun:

Where are Kate and Leo?

I try to look for unusual shots:

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Continuing on with our day.

When we arrived back at our cabin, we had a new friend waiting for us:

Something old = towel animal; something new = we’ve never had one before dinner before, let alone lunch.

There’s been some controversy about once daily or twice daily service in the cabins. On FB, John Heald even posted a picture of the “new and improved” Room Steward service form you fill out that has “morning”, “evening” and “both”. But, when printed in bulk – will the Ecstasy have the new forms? Would your Steward have a problem if you wanted twice daily service?

DW filled out the form with Pierre yesterday, I didn’t even see it. (Blasphemy for this type A planner. LOL) There was no “both”, but she checked morning and evening and told Pierre, “we have 4 adults in one cabin, we need twice a day service”. We had already requested ice twice a day; twice a day room service was never an issue.

Pierre just likes to do his towel animals in the morning.

Works for me!

After a quick change, it’s time for lunch. I’m pretty flexible – I go wherever the line is not. ;)

Here’s my choice today;

I love the smoked salmon bagel they serve for breakfast in the dining room. But we didn’t make it there or to the Sea Day Brunch this trip. This works just as well.

And some dessert choices:

On the left is something new to me, pumpkin cake. It fooled me; it looked moist, but it wasn’t. The winners were the Key Lime Pie and the Almond Napoleon, which has delicious black cherries in it. The Napoleon is hard to eat, but oh so worth it. You really can’t cut it because the crust is hard. So layer by layer or picking it up and making a total mess are the way to go – I chose the messy way. :eek: :)

I know what you mean. I only have a mear 408 days left....but who is counting![emoji12]

 

Indeed. Don't shoot me, this has been an extra-ordinary year for us. We did the Conquest in March and have the Valor on Sept. 30th. This cruise snuck up out of no where. Previously, I'd never been on more than one cruise in a single calendar year!

Come October, I'll really be in cruise withdrawal. LOL

Your review is getting me so excited for my cruise on her in 30 days. Quick question, do they still have the Rolls Royce on the Boulevard or has it been replaced by the Harley? I don't remember seeing the Harley on my last cruise.

Glad to be of service! :)

The car is still there; it comes later in the review.

Time for a relaxing morning at Sea

For breakfast; with no line, an Omelette was a no-brainer:

I had spinach, cheese, onion, mushroom and ham. Yum!

I will say the banana bread was one disappointment on the buffet. When it’s moist, it is very, very good. When it’s dry, sometimes it still has flavor. This cruise, not so much.

So, let’s talk about breakfast variety a little. People complain that the buffet is the same every day. My thought is just don’t eat every single thing on the buffet every single day. Then, there’s a variety. LOL

I will also mention that the muffins changed each day. Today I chose Lemon Poppyseed, it was not available every day.

Oh, I should mention, we had our breakfast with a view:

I told you we’d see more of this nice area outside the back of the Lido.

After breakfast, we headed directly down to the Serenity Deck. As you can see – no chair hogs here and not full. Yet.

I spent a lot of time in the hot tub. I don’t know what it is about cruising that makes it easier is to talk to new people as compared to other vacations. And, leaving from my home port; I met several people with South Carolina connections. One lived 30 miles away; one lived out of state, but at one time lived at the other end of the SAME street I lived on in the 90’s. And people from Buffalo that had driven down so they could visit family after the cruise. Good times.

I also want to note they have a nice shower in this area. The hot tub is sea water with chlorine added, the shower was a great convenience.

We had grabbed loungers in the shade – there are only a few. I even took a nap. Chillin’ at it’s best! :)

But, chillin’ and relaxin’ don’t translate so well into a written review.

Good thing there’s photos!

Rinse and repeat of above – hot tub, meet and visit with people – have a fantastic time soaking in every minute of it.

Ahhhhhh – vacation!

We finally decided to get cleaned up for lunch.

Coming soon: Something new and something old – and it’s the same thing!

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A sneak peek at the Crystal Palace Casino:

This was a surprise. Not sure why there’s a Harley on board; I guess it fits the Boulevard theme:

I mentioned lighting issues; it was easiest to sit on the ledge behind it to get a decent pic.

Special Occasions looks nice in a 50’s Diner theme:

Hey! We saw a similar candy picture back in Charleston:

I picked the Charleston picture for that very reason. :D

I love the entrance to Chinatown. We’ll see inside a little later.

I think it’s time to check the cabin, change clothes, grab anyone there and head to the Lido to find the rest for breakfast!

More touring, here’s the Liquor Store:

The Jewelry Store:

The Clothing and Sundries shop:

On the Ecstasy, the Liquor and Jewelry stores are connected (with separate entrances) instead of Liquor Store being joined with the Clothing/Sundries shop on larger ships.

Here’s a few not-so-great pics. The color really does not show how beautiful the Blue Sapphire Lounge is:

Here’s the entrance to City Lights Boulevard. Note the names of all of the places “on the Boulevard”:

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We keep the curtains open at night so the natural light can wake us up. I slept thru the sunrise – which is good – it shows I’m chillin’ ;)

We didn’t see the full moon from our balcony last night; but is sure looks great this morning:

I usually tour the ship on the first morning. It’s always nice and quiet, except for the many, many crew who were always cleaning the ship. Constantly. I can’t speak for those that have reported a dirty ship. From MY perspective I can I tell you, they run a clean ship on the Ecstasy!

I often get all my ship pics this morning and then spread them out during a review. But, I noticed there seemed to be more windows, which affected the lighting. This report is more realistic, and was easier to organize, because I’m showing more pics when I actually took them. Let’s see what came out this morning.

I like to start in the Grand Atrium – because I never take pictures here when boarding the ship.

From the elevator:

A couple more pics from Deck 7 of the Grand Atrium:

I’m guess I'm old-fashioned. I like the theming, I don’t find this over-the-top at all. I like that it’s different. With the Breeze, Sunshine and Vista, so many of the public areas have the same name and theme: Liquid Lounge, Limelight Lounge, Piano Bar 88, Farhenheit 555 Steakhouse, etc. it’s all becoming too generic. Sometimes, the pendulum swings too far in the opposite direction, IMHO.

Let’s move on.

Tuesday, June 21st – A Relaxing Day at Sea

We also love Ecstasy! We're on the 8/6/16 cruise! Only 31 days!!!

I didn't see a lot of positive info on the Ecstasy; I'm glad to see it coming out now. :)

Enjoy your cruise!

I will take having to eat leftovers the night before my cruise any time!!! :D

I admit, it was nice. It can't happen soon enough again for me. :D

[emoji3]

I'd glad you are enjoying. :D

Another great installment! I remember when our boys were little and we had four in a cabin. Couldn't wait until they were old enough for their own cabin! :D

Thanks! It took me 6 years to get on a ship out of Charleston. The cabin wasn't our preference, though the balcony was nice. But it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. :D

Next, we’ve moved up to the Promenade Deck in the Atrium. You can see The Neon Bar, the piano bar, down a deck:

Remember the carpeting has a city building theme? You can see a deck above the theme continues in this beautiful blue.

Next, we walk down City Lights Boulevard – gosh – I wonder how it got that name. ;)

The theming continues, and I didn’t realize……the lights change colors:

We decided to head to the room. We saw Pierre on our way to dinner and explained our leaky cooler issue. He came to the rescue with a bucket to keep our water in:

He also delivered our Gold Level water – boy these are larger than the Conquest in March – as well as our “free drink after 5PM on the last day” coupons. We sure don’t want to lose those. :D

And, of course, a Carnival turn-down tradition:

We visited on the balcony for a bit. There are two chairs, but one person can sit on the table as well.

A couple of us decided to head to the Comedy Club to see Mike Speenburg. He’s very southern and was pretty good. He had a few lulls in his set; but overall we enjoyed it.

I like improv comedians. I hope you know not to sit in the front row if you don’t want to be “part of the show”; because you never know if “you’ll be the ones”. LOL He did a pretty good bit with a 19 year old and his family in the front row and a nearby family from South Carolina – because they “got” all of his southern jokes.

Afterwards, we headed back to the cabin. I’m an early riser and getting to bed at a decent time has been great in not needing a “vacation from my vacation” when I get home.

My evening ritual is to spend some time on the balcony and journal the day’s activities. You don’t think I could remember all these details on my own, do you???

Tomorrow is a Sea Day!

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After dinner, we did a little shopping; then I ventured into The Explorer’s Club Library for a bit. This area is in the Atrium, conveniently located next to the Wind Star Dining Room and was the most active Library I’ve seen on a ship. A lot of people came in to get books and games. Many came in just to relax and enjoy the beautiful décor.

A giant globe surely fits the Explorer’s theme:

The furniture is beautiful, notice the wood carving on the arm of the sofa:

Here is a model of the Niew Amsterdam looking out onto the Atrium:

I even managed to get a photo of the sunset while exploring The Explorer’s Club:

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I love the pre cruise segments. It gets me in the mood!!!

Thank you! I usually do a pre-cruise segment but have not left from my home port before.

I didn't think you'd want to see pictures of my house and the fact we were eating left overs the day before to clean out the fridge.

I doesn't quite set the same mood, does it. :D

Armando? [emoji4]. I will remember his name. Going in 60 days!!! And I really like dinner in about an hour. Any longer than that, and I get bored between the courses.

I think his next vacation is in October or November, so you may be in luck!. I was surprised the 2nd night when I asked for Armando, the check in staff didn't know his name.

We sat at table 119; a table for 4. I'm not sure of your party size; but have them find that table (even if it's taken) and tell them you want that section.

ALSO - make sure you get in line on the Starboard Side. That's the side The Explorer's Club is on. I'll be covering that in my next installment a little later today.

Good luck, and have fun!

Great review so far. I'm thinking of sailing out of Charleston next year (on the Sunshine though). My question about the vans for the handicapped parking - did they have a wheelchair lift? We have a handicapped parking sticker because my mother is a full time wheelchair user. She would never be able to step up into a van to make the trip from the parking to the ship though.

I think I read somewhere on CC that they do have vans that accomodate wheelchairs. I don't think ours did. Someone posted that the Charleston Ports Authority has been helpful, hopefully they could give you more info about how often they run, if they radio in to send on, etc. Enjoy your cruise!

I took pictures of most public areas to share throughout the trip. Two areas I missed are Camp Ocean and the dining rooms. The dining rooms were quite nice with a light green and brown theme.

It’s time to head to dinner.

We have been choosing Your Time Dining ever since it’s been around. We like the flexibility. And, if you like your wait staff, you can request them each night.

YTD is in the mid-ship Wind Star Dining Room on Deck 8. They open at 5:45 PM, we usually arrive at or before opening. With Sail Away, tonight we arrived at 6pm with a line of…..zero! It wasn’t busy yet, so I asked for a table for 4 by the window. I didn’t think quick enough to ask for the shady side and we ended up in the sun with the curtains closed. LOL

We’ve generally had good luck with wait staff in the Dining Room. Tonight, we had Armando Jr, from the Phillipines. He was a little older than most waiters, and very quiet and reserved. It took a few minutes before he even came to our table. I wondered if we’d move on to a new waiter tomorrow.

We did not. Armando was the “Stealth Waiter”. He was the best head waiter I can remember ever having! He was very fast and efficient. We would definitely be trying to sit in Armando’s area every night we could.

The Ecstasy still has the old menus. I started the evening with chicken fingers:

You would think there’s not much to this picture, but with me as your tour guide – there is. ;)

I’ve had the chicken fingers recently as an appetizer on another ship and they were nowhere near this large. I’m just guessing that the Fantasy class ships that still have the Grill at lunch use the same chicken fingers at dinner. They were good.

Next, is something that we found unusual at first; but for us – a wonderful help. If you look to the right of the chicken fingers, you see another dish. It is this:

This is the Pasta with Italian Sausage. Most pasta dishes can be ordered as an appetizer. That’s what I did this evening. You see, Armando, in his speed, was not afraid to bring out your 2nd appetizer while you were still eating the first one. Some nights, he would even bring both out at the same time.

Some might be put off by this, wishing to enjoy a longer time in the dining room. Not us, we’re happy to have less lulls between courses. Additional appetizers are usually sitting in a covered dish at the serving area anyways; why wait for them with the staff so busy. We REALLY enjoyed this.

Since I had heavy appetizers, I chose the grilled Tilapia for my entrée:

I don’t usually order this because I cook it at home. But I don’t cook it like this – it was very, very good.

Soon, it was time for dessert. On the old menus, Crème Brulee is the first night:

And, with my sweet tooth, I had to have a taste of the Black Forrest cake as well:

WOW! We were done with dinner in 1 hr 25 minutes. For YTD, that’s really fast for us. On our recent cruises, we’ve had anywhere from 9-13 at one table. We always thought it was our table size that made the meals linger – sometimes over 2 hours. But, “Stealth Waiter Armando” would have had us out much quicker on those trips. We were at a table with four, with two tables of two right next to us. All 3 tables were usually seated within 5 minutes of each other. He took orders and served all 8 people at pretty much the same pace.

Soon, our first evening on board.

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