crusing48/51

In. Spite of the fact that these rooms do not have a balcony, I still believe them to be the best rooms on any ship other than an owner's suite. Stayed in them for three cruises. Enjoy!

Thank you!

Have been wanting to try a grand scenic ocean view for a while, and finally booked one! It's on the Sunshine, cabin 9126. If anyone has stayed in this type of room, please tell me how wonderful it is!

Now just have to wait until January 2020! It's a long wait, so we have two more cruises booked before this one. The Miracle in a 4K between the lifeboats, and the Breeze in a cove balcony.

On a side note, will be able to enjoy this stateroom, because I discovered the patch, and the forward position of the cabin will not cause me to get seasick. YES!!!

Thank you for your review. DH and I are sailing to Hawaii on the Miracle in 10 days. Did you miss not having all the new venues, such as Guy's and Blue Iguana? Also were there a variety of activities during sea days? We have LOTS of sea days, and wonder how we are going to fill them. Maybe I should bring a good book with me.

Any other insights you would like to share would be greatly appreciated!

It’s automatically on your account. They put the little slip in your cabin saying you have Cruise Cash.

Thank You!

It will be automatically applied to your S&S.

Thank you!

Yep, so now I buy Cruise Cash ahead of time with my discounted Gift Cards and am done with it. It's on my account when I step on the ship, no visit to anywhere needed.

Do they deliver the cruise cash to your cabin, or go ahead and apply it to your sign and sail? I just bought some cruise cash with gift cards, but they said it will be delivered to our stateroom. Just want it clarified, thanks!

I bought the cruise cash so I won't have to keep up with the gift cards. One less thing to have to worry about. I understand cruise cash works just like gift cards, and since we also only use cash accounts, I want to make sure how it will be applied.

Tried again today to use the credit card, no luck. So I went to Verizon and purchased an ecard gift card, problem solved, plus I had extra to apply towards another cruise we have booked. Win, win!!

If it has a chip that might be the issue. It happened to me a few times on different online stores. Something to do with the security with the chip. I had to do the purchase three times to get it to work. Happens sometimes when I give the card over the phone too.

Our card does have a chip, so that may be the problem. Thanks for sharing. We will try again this afternoon. Hopefully it will work.

Same thing happens to me with my secondary credit card. I use that card so my wife doesn't see the purchases, and can then be surprised by the sweets and love notes. It does work with my primary card. I never got the secondary card to work. Sorry I di not have a solution other than try a different card.

Thanks, it's nice to know it's not just our card. We usually set up our sign and sail as a cash account, so I thought maybe it's because of that. Thanks for letting me know yours won't work either.

Maybe try a different card?

We only have one credit card, and I don't really want to use our debit card. Will try again tomorrow. Maybe it will work then.

Was wondering if anyone else has had this happen? Wanted to order some Miller Lite to be delivered to our cabin via the Fun Shop. Went to pay with our credit card, and it says on the Carnival website that our card isn't recognized.

We called the credit card company to verify everything is fine with the card and no problems on their end. We called the 800 number, and the rep tried our card there, with the same result. It isn't recognized? DH used it to purchase gas today, so we know it's working.

The Carnival rep said to try again tomorrow, that it won't go through today, because we've tried to use it more than 3 times. Not sure what to make of this? I'll bet if we were trying to book a cruise it would take our card! LOL

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks!

Hi Nola37. I am VERY prone to motion sickness. Have had one aft balcony, never again! The motion back there was so much worse for me than mid ship. I also will not book a forward cabin, I'm almost certain would be worse there too.

We always book mid ship, with cabins above and below. No noise issues that way.

Also get some sort of anti motion sickness meds. Bonine works well. I get Meclizine from Costco(behind the counter), Dramamine works well too, but makes me sleepier than the other 2 mentioned. If it's really bad, see your doctor to get a prescription for the patch. I have never tried it, but will be asking my doctor about it for our upcoming Hawaii cruise. It's 15 days, and I want to make sure not to have issues.

The view, as others have said, will be the same on any balcony. It's just luck to see sea life. Side balconies will be windier, but you can sit out there and watch the ocean go by. Hopefully wherever you choose, you will have quiet neighbors.

Happy sailing and enjoy your first cruise. You will love it!

Please keep in mind that if you do book with Verizon, you have to go through them for everything. We did, and had a couple issues. They had spelled our last name wrong, and we also got double charged for our gratuities.

Carnival would not talk to us directly for either change. We had to contact Verizon for each issue, and it took several tries to get it all straightened out. Eventually it was all corrected, but for us the loss of control of our booking makes us never book through Verizon again.

Also, the booking had to be paid in full up front. No way for us to make payments. For us, lesson learned, we will always book through Carnival from now on.

customcruisewear.com has all kinds of styles and pics. True to size and nicely done.

I second that. Have ordered shirts from them 3 times, and all are great. They have many different designs to choose from. Will order again for our upcoming Panama Canal cruise.

Like other poster said, you will have to cancel your current booking and rebook on Verizon. However, be aware that if you have any issues, you will have to go through Verizon to get them addressed. Carnival will not speak with you about your cruise, you have to make any changes through Verizon.

I booked a 5 day cruise on the Ecstasy out of Charleston through Verizon. While the price was less, for me it wasn't worth all the hassle of going through them when we had a couple of issues.

They spelled our names wrong, and we had to contact them to get that corrected. Also, they somehow charged us twice for gratuities, so had to contact them to get that corrected also.

If you want to upgrade cabins, again, you have to go through them. Cannot do anything through Carnival directly.

So, not saying don't book through Verizon, just be aware you will lose control of your booking and have to go through them for anything related to the booking. For me, never again.

Thank you so much for doing a review of the Miracle. You are correct, there aren't many to be found! Will be sailing on her in December of this year and again in December of next year, so very excited to see your photos.

You're off to a great start. I know you and your grandma enjoyed that balcony. Serenity looks very nice. Will be following your adventure with you.

Thanks again!

You either love them, or hate them. For me, it's never again! Had one once. It was deck 7 on the Victory. It was very hot during the day, we has the ash all over our lounger and chair, there is absolutely no privacy above, below, or side to side. But the worst for me was the motion of the ship. Was sea sick the whole cruise. Felt the vibration, and the swaying of the ship more than on any other cruise. Now we always book mid ship. Way less motion.

One and only plus was the wake of the ocean at sail away. Lovely! Just not enough to make me ever want to stay in an aft cabin again. If you get the least bit sea sick, do not book one of these cabins!

Hi Lyn1Lyn. Have never sailed the Dream, but have the Sunshine. She had lots more bells and whistles than the Ecstasy. Also, have never sailed Norwegian.

The Ecstasy got Alchemy, Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana, and Cherry on Top. She still does not have a steak house. She is small in comparison to other ships, and doesn't have many balcony cabins. There are no hair dryers in the staterooms, with the exception of suites. Also, no fridges in the staterooms, other than suites.

The casino seems more smoky than on other ships to me, and the whole ship was very small overall. I did not care for her, but others on these boards like her just fine. We prefer the Legend, or Miracle for a small ship. Serenity area was nice. Food was like you would expect on Carnival. Our cabin steward was very much overworked, not up to our usual experience.

You will want to make your own judgements, as tastes differ, but if you are expecting the ship to be anything like the Sunshine, or the Dream, then you will be disappointed, in my opinion. Others will have different views, and hopefully they will chime in. We just prefer other ships more than Ecstasy.

The Sunshine has a few cruises going out of Charleston. You may want to check and see if your dates work with those sailings.

We sailed on the Ecstasy in January. We were not asked anything, ever. We got service sometimes once a day, and sometimes twice. Never got a towel animal the whole cruise. Only saw the steward twice the whole cruise, and he didn't know our names.

Longest are 15 day Hawaii and a 14 day RT Long Beach, CA to Alaska.

Since the larger Canal has opened they might do a Canal cruise.

 

 

We are booked on a 14 day partial Panama Canal cruise out of Tampa in December 2018.There are more longer cruises than the Hawaii and Alaska ones. Ours is a closed loop, there are others that are start and end at different ports going to Panama Canal.

For those who have sailed the Ecstasy since it came out of dry dock, has it gone to the American Table menu?

Yes it has.

I spoke to a Rep from Carnival who reported the Ecstasy also had room corridor carpet replaced during this very recent dry dock. Early Winter 2017. In addition to the above added Restaurants and Candy Shop..

 

Additionally, I asked the Rep when was the last time bedding was replaced? She told me 3 years ago. That would take it back to 2014 perhaps?

 

Truthfully I am looking forward to some posters on here who are sailing right now, for their feedback IF they decide to post.

 

From everything I am seeing (youtube) and reading on here there is a either you love it or hate hate hate this ship. It is not they hate it a little but they dislike everything. :(

 

Soon enough I will find out for myself too. And report back.

We were on the Ecstasy the sailing just after the dry dock upgrades. Our favorite places on the ship were Serenity area, Alchemy Bar, Guy's Burgers, and Blue Iguana.

Area around the casino was VERY smoky, enough that we didn't frequent that area.

Would I say we hated the ship? No, we didn't hate it, we were on a cruise. What I will say is that it was our least favorite cruise out of 8 total, 6 on Carnival and 2 on Royal. Ecstasy was not our favorite ship. That would be the Legend.

If you have specific questions, I will try and answer them.

Hi apexgal, we were on this cruise with you. I have to agree the 5+ hour wait to get on board was a bit much. We also saw officers clearing tables on the Lido. Our room steward was stretched too thin, and we barely saw him. No towel animals, ever. We were never asked about once or twice room cleaning. I think it was twice maybe one day out of the five. He didn't know our names either.

You are correct about the smoke being strong. We tried to sit near the casino bar, but had to move, the smell was so overwhelming. We found the food to be adequate, but nothing special. Guys and Blue Iguana were welcomed additions, as well as Alchemy, it is beautiful.

Overall, we had a relaxing time. It was good to get away in January. Was it our favorite cruise ever? Not by a long shot. We didn't care for the Ecstasy, but will probably sail from Charleston on another ship, if it's available when we want to cruise.

Waiting to hear about the rest of your adventure. Have to agree with your assessment so far. It's spot on with ours.

I read about the upcharge, Is that for lobster and steak? Also is that per meal or pay 20 and eat steak every day if you want?

 

I'm pretty sure it's for lobster and steak, like what is served in the steakhouse. It's per meal, not a one time charge.

I have a question, so now there is no restaurants on the ship that cost extra? I did see that the chef's table is still there and a extra 75pp. But the wife and I did not see any of the extra restaurants that you pay extra for. Was just wondering if we just didn't notice any on the Web site.

 

You are correct, there are no extra cost restaurants on the Ecstasy. They had the chef's table in the Explorer Club (library/game room) on deck 8. It does cost $75pp.

 

They do offer the steakhouse selections in the main dining room for a $20pp up charge.