missyoua

I'm on the Dec 15th sailing and the Aquatheather is not available to rsvp either. Only Cats, Frozen and two of the comedy shows. I thought I was too late to reserve. 

Thanks for a great review! We'll be on The Ecstasy in November with both our kids. You mention Waterworks but also a splash pad area? Could you elaborate a little on the kiddie slide and/or splash pad area? It is hard to tell what exactly is included in Waterworks on this ship. One of our children probably won't be potty trained by then so we'll have to go to the beach but what is the splash pad area? Our kids will be 2 and 3.5 so I'm interested in those areas! Also, what all is offered that you remember for the kids? I had no idea there was a build a bear workshop!!!!

Thanks!!!

Hey Sthrncrusr,

There are a couple of pictures of the Waterworks area on my day MIAMI and SEA DAY google pictures. There are 2 slides for little kids. My 3 year old was scared at first but she loved it after going down a couple of times. The splash pad area also has water sprouts for smaller children who don't want to go on the slides but just wants to play with water. Other than the 2 slides and the water sprouts, there really isn't a wading pool or anything else for small children.

The Fun Times outlines all that is available for children. We didn't participate much with the Camp Carnival but it seemed like they had plenty of activities such as decorating cupcakes and face painting days. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your review! There really aren't many Ecstasy reviews, and this was wonderful to read. My husband and I will be on the April 14 sailing and we are very exicted. This will be my 10th cruise and my husbands 11th. We've never done a cruise less than a week, or been on a boat this small... but it will probably be a welcome change for us. We've been on big boats and you're waiting in line a lot and it sometimes can feel crowded.

Kelikea-I went on the Imagination in 2010 and it was crowded so I was worried this time around that it'd be the same. But it wasn't! Have a blast on your cruise next week! I'm jealous!

Ok. Thanks for the info.

 

How long did it take from start to finish?

 

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It took 45 minutes. Longest muster drill ever! But the time consuming part was that they called each muster station individually to go up to the lifeboats and it took that long to get to all the muster stations.

missyoua...could you tell me where the muster was held and waht the process was.

 

thanks again

Hi Keith, muster was held on the Promenade Deck. You'll be assigned to muster station. Our muster station was B. We were in the City Lights Boulevard. Then when the safety speech was completed, we had to walk in 2 single file up the stairs to our life boats.

Thank you Missyoua for the review.. I was wondering if you saved the Fun Times and is so is there anyway you can post them? thank you so much. By the way your little girl is a doll.. Looking forward to my sailing.

Let's try again:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0MVZMd0lqamhva0E/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0NHVIV19oSGVKRk0/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0VXNreHlaZlEzZTg/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0ZzB1UEg2NEZUa1E/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0dFRlYWJVY3pMaWM/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0emIxYlE5a0xnZGs/edit?usp=sharing

Let me know if it works. If not, I can email them to anyone who wants them

Thank you Missyoua for the review.. I was wondering if you saved the Fun Times and is so is there anyway you can post them? thank you so much. By the way your little girl is a doll.. Looking forward to my sailing.

OOOPs! Let me figure out what's wrong with my links and I'll post them again!

Thank you Missyoua for the review.. I was wondering if you saved the Fun Times and is so is there anyway you can post them? thank you so much. By the way your little girl is a doll.. Looking forward to my sailing.

Yep! :)

Here are the Google documents link to them.

Day 1: Miami

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7E...it?usp=sharing

Day 2: Key West

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7E...it?usp=sharing

Day 3: Cozumel

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7E...it?usp=sharing

Day 4: Sea Day

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7E...it?usp=sharing

Camp Carnival 2-5 years Old:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7E...it?usp=sharing

Room Service Menu:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7E...it?usp=sharing

I just realized my typing messed up the photo link on the last post:

https://plus.google.com/photos/112191783312208452871/albums/5987566603890458561

Thanks missyoua....this review is just what the doctor ordered.:D

 

Thanks for taking the time to post...you rock!!:)

You're welcome! I always enjoyed reading reviews and this was my first. It was good to relive my cruise even if it was just for the few hours I spent writing it up. LOL:D

Hello Missyoua,

 

Love the review. I am going in nov, same thing as you. But we are seeing LadyA in concert.

 

Anyway, I have question. I was wondering why you didn't fly into the Miami airport? I am paranoid that I screwed up. Already bought airfare from Chicago to Miami and am staying at the Holiday Inn by the port. Wondered if you did anything in Miami?

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! LadyA!!!! I booked this cruise 1 year ago, Feb 2013 before the Live concert line up was even an idea.

But I flew Southwest on their "Wanna Getaway" fare, which was $200 per person. Southwest doesn't fly into Miami. All other airfares were well over $300 so I toughed it up and bought a flight with a 40 minute layover in ATL-GA airport! I'd love to just fly into Miami, but financially, it was cheaper to fly into FLL.

We didn't get to Fort Lauderdale until 9pm the night before we embark so we didn't have time to do anything in Miami precruise.

Thanks for your review! There aren't too many reviews of the Ecstasy so this was nice to see! We will be on board in October with the same itinerary so this made me very happy! :D

Yeah, I wonder why?? Maybe because most people take the Ecstasy as a quick getaway they don't think it's worth writing about? Who knows.

Your little girl is darling!

Thank you! :) It was so much fun bringing her and seeing her be in awe of everything.

thanks for all the great pics!!! That will be us in just over 3 weeks and can't wait!! Glad you had a great time :)

I wish I could go again and again and again, but reality hits and I have to be at work!

We planned so much, but ended up doing so little. We went up to waterworks at 9am to spend our morning. They were chlorinating the water prior to 10am or at least that’s what the sign said. So we went to breakfast on the Lido deck while we wait for the splash pad and slides to open. When we returned to the waterworks, it was busy but we never had a problem finding loungers. There was always a Carnival staff standing by the water slides reminding kids to walk and not run and to tell kids to go down the slides properly. Some of the bigger kids were going belly first down the little slides and they kept getting yelled at but didn’t stop so we decided to take DD away since she was getting naughty following the big kids lead. To distract her from the slides we told her we'd go have ice cream. Works every time! We went to have ice cream in the buffet.

Carnival did enforce the No Swimsuit in the buffet. They did tell people and escort them to the exit if they had on a swimsuit with no cover up. Nobody enforce hand sanitizers, although sanitizer stations were at all entrances to food areas.

Sea day was also when they had brunch. We received drink vouchers as VFIP members for breakfast or brunch in the MDR. So we decided to use on them on this day. I planned to also take DD to Build a Bear at 1:30pm and tea time at 3pm this day but didn’t make it to either. I am not a big drinker, so after my 1 drink and brunch at noon, I was drunk. I went to lay down and didn’t get until 3pm. I slept through Build a Bear and DD was just content napping with me!

We woke up and went to the Game of Love. It was super hilarious! DD got scared because everyone was in uproar laughter.

We had dinner in the MDR one last time. Everything was delicious. I eat everything and even better that I don't have to do dishes afterwards so I'm not complaining!

We finally went to watch the family friendly comedy show at the Punchliner’s club. The Comedians were pretty funny. Then we ran to the other end of the ship to watch The Brits production. It was good. DD loved the bright outfits and the show. It was 10pm by the time the show was over and that was way past our bedtime. DH went to the casino every night after DD and I went to bed. He donated $20 or $30 each night at the casino.

And that was it! Our trip would end in the morning with priority debarkation at 8am!

Our flight wasn't until 5:40pm. I booked a car through Alamo, remember to print your reservation or the shuttle driver may not let you on to take you to the Miami airport. Alamo free shuttle runs every 20 minutes between POM and MIA. Every time I said "Alamo" my daughter thought I was saying "Animal" and she wanted to see animals :D We just took the car to Keating Beach($8 park fee per car) for the day and returned the rental to the Fort Lauderdale

https://plus.google.com/photos/112191783312208452871/albums/5987566603890458561airport about 4pm.

**Sidenote: When we went on the Carnival Imagination in September 2011 and ALWAYS had a hard time finding a seat in the buffet. I'm so glad that was not the case this time. That was the most frustrating thing about the Imagination cruise was carrying around a tray of food walking around aimlessly and then end up standing and waiting for people to leave so you could sit. This time, that never happened.

We weren’t scheduled to be in Cozumel until 1:30pm so we slept in. We wandered around the ship in the morning. Played in the arcade, had lunch at the buffet. Then it was time for us to go to Cozumel. We planned to just go to the beach. DD has been asking to go to the beach for weeks. We took a cab to Paradise Beach. $15 for the 3 of us. At Paradise Beach, it was $3 per person to use the chairs and $10 minimum food/drink spending. Then $15 to use the water toys.

There were a good amount of people, but not super crowded. The pool hardly had anyone in it.

We headed back to the ship around 5pm. We had dinner in the MDR. We then just walked around the ship. We enjoyed just strolling around and eating ice cream. This has been a relaxing low key week for us. We haven’t yet attended any evening shows and it was already day 3!

https://plus.google.com/photos/112191783312208452871/albums/5987551121123881697

We stopped in Key West so early! We went and had breakfast before we got off the ship. We really had no plans in Key West. The Navy shipyard was where we docked. We were not allowed to take pictures until we were off the military base. Free trolleys took us to downtown Key West. The shuttles run every 20-30 minutes to and from the ship. Last trolley back to the ship was at 12:30pm.

We walked around and met up with our cousins from home who spent the week in Key West/Olando/Miami/Fort Lauderdale. They said they felt like all they did was drive all week from place to place. That’s why I LOVE my cruises!

So funny story. At 11:30am we decided to head back to the ship. I just hopped on a random trolley because the tour trolleys and the free trolleys were owned by the same company and they all looked alike! DH asked if we were on the right trolley and I said, “I don’t know? It’s a trolley!” haha well, after 10 minutes of waiting, the trolley fills up and someone comes to collect tickets. Ooops! We have no tickets! We’re on a 1 hour history tour trolley! We would have missed our ship if we went on the tour trolley for an hour!

We played mini golf, went to the MDR for elegant night and had lobster tail. We went to the close up magic show in the library at 10pm. That ended our day 2!

Breakfast at Rodeway Inn was your typical continental breakfast. There were hard boiled eggs and a waffle making station also. I love waffles, but didn’t want to wait in line to make a waffle so I just had a muffin, yogurt and juice.

I made arrangements with SAS transportation to pick us up at 10 am and shuttle us to the Port of Miami. Rodeway Inn charges $80 for the 3 of us to go to the Port of Miami. Rodeway Inn provides free shuttle to Port Everglades. SAS charged $15 per person to POM. The SAS driver called me at 9am to confirm our 10 am pickup. He was there at exactly 10am!

We were at the port by 10:30am. We dropped off our 3 pieces of luggage to the porters and tipped him $1 per bag. Then we went through the security for VIP check in. There was nobody else checking n which made it nice so we could take our time with our stroller and carry on. They let me walk through security carrying my DD unlike at the airport where they made her walk through on her own.

We then were told to go to the Captain’s lounge to check in. It was a room off to the back of the huge terminal. They had water and lemon water for everyone. We just gave them our boarding pass and went to sit down until they called us back to the desk to collect our Sail and Sign cards.

I read on here that we can go early to the port and usually Carnival will let people board prior than the suggested 1pm email notice. But we weren’t allowed to board until 12:30pm so we did spend 1.5 hours in the Captain’s lounge.

As soon as we got onboard, we headed to lunch on the Lido deck. We grabbed burgers and fries. It was good. After we ate, we went to check out if our room was ready and it was. The room was HUGE! It had a mini fridge pre stocked with 6 cans of soda. We didn’t drink any and we didn’t ask for them to be removed either. The balcony was big. I was worried our balcony was going to be obstructed by the extended grand suite balcony to our left. It wasn’t too bad. I have pictures to show how it looked. The balcony door was heavy and it had two locks so I didn’t have to worry about DD going out there by herself. There was more than enough room for the 3 of us. I felt like it was bigger than the Rodeway Inn room.

So we changed DD into her swimming suit so she can go to the splash pad right away. She was the only one there for the first couple hours. She had a blast. We ordered the drinks in the souvenir plastic cups. Cost us $21 for the 2 drinks. But they were good!

After spending time at the pool deck, we went to the room and we all just laid on the bed from exhaustion until the muster drill alarm went off. We had station B which was right in front of the Sweet Shop and by the Casino bar (forgot the name). They came and put on a bright green bracelet on DD to wear for the week that had her muster station. After the safety brief, it was then done in Spanish. After that, each muster station group then was walked upstairs in 2 single file line to the life boats. It took 45 minutes, the longest most tedious muster drill I have ever done. But for safety issues it must be done!

We watched sail away from our balcony which wasn’t much of a sight since we were facing the industrial ship yard I think?? We then headed to Camp Carnival orientation. They gave us a cell phone for the week. $150 charge if lost or damaged. They also gave DD a nice hardcover book.

We had anytime dining. We never waited at any time during the week. There were never any lines. Anytime Dining had to use the Wind Star dining room only. Assigned dining used the Wind Song dining room. Food was great. No complaints. Waiters were awesome. They always gave DD a coloring/activity book and crayons every night.

We called it a night by 8pm and just watched the movie of the day. The earliest we’ve ever gone to bed on vacation! :rolleyes:

I’m going to attach a link to photos for each day since it’s taking me forever to upload, resize and then post the link.

This was my DH and my 4th cruise. It was our 2nd with Carnival. This was our very first cruise bringing our 3 year old daughter. We had no idea how or what to expect cruising with a toddler. I knew we wouldn’t pay the extra fee for Camp Carnival Night Owl babysitting so we’d miss the late night events such as Adult Comedy the Punchliner’s club.

Ok, let’s get on with the review.

Pre-cruise:

Originally, I booked the corner aft extended balcony but 5 days before we were to embark, I received an upgrade call. I took the offer to upgrade into Grand Suite balcony room U103. The cost was an additional $202 extra for all three of us. We’ve never stayed in a suite before so I figured why not. I wanted to surprise DH so I didn’t tell him I upgraded until we were checking in and were sent to the VIP line and the Captain’s Lounge to wait for embarkation.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale International airport at about 9pm. I booked a room at Rodeway Inn for the night. Rodeway Inn provided a free shuttle from the airport. I called after we picked up our check in luggage and just 15 minutes later, the shuttle was there to pick us up. Rodeway Inn has an attached bar and grill restaurant. They were ready to close the kitchen, but with the wave of people arriving from the airport, they did let us order. Pretty decent food, we ordered chicken wings and DH got a fish sandwich with coleslaw and fries.

Rodeway Inn is no Hilton hotel, but the staff was nice and professional. The rooms are decent. We are not too picky. The floors in the room are not carpeted so I was cautious to make sure my daughter wouldn’t fall off the bed or trip and fall. At check in, the staff gave me 3 breakfast tickets.

Thank you so much for sharing! We sail in October on the Ecstasy so it was nice to see the Fun Times. I wonder why you left Cozumel at 10pm though? We're scheduled to leave at 1:30am. Was this a Carnival Live Concert Cruise?

Unfortunately Carnival LIVE started the week AFTER our cruise! I was a little bummed out about that. But that just means another reason to book soon! :D

I am not sure why we left Cozumel at 10pm. My DH and DD and I were back on the ship by 6pm since we are not too adventurous and DD needed a nap.

I didn't get to the review tonight. But I was able to upload all the Fun Times from my cruise.

We brought our 3 year old DD with us, so I have the Camp Carnival schedule for the week for the 2-5 year old group. We went to the orientation on day

1st just in case we decided to drop her off. We never did take her back to Camp Carnival.

Here are the Google documents link to them.

Day 1: Miami

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0emIxYlE5a0xnZGs/edit?usp=sharing

Day 2: Key West

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0VXNreHlaZlEzZTg/edit?usp=sharing

Day 3: Cozumel

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0NHVIV19oSGVKRk0/edit?usp=sharing

Day 4: Sea Day

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0MVZMd0lqamhva0E/edit?usp=sharing

Camp Carnival 2-5 years Old:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0ZzB1UEg2NEZUa1E/edit?usp=sharing

Room Service Menu:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EAcTwbeqe0dFRlYWJVY3pMaWM/edit?usp=sharing

Will be back tomorrow to upload some pictures and give a better recap of our week!

Just got off Ecstasy on Friday, Feb 28th. We did the 4 day (Monday to Friday). Like the other poster said, I didn't find many reviews so didn't think anyone was interested. I'll post up a review and the Fun Times tonight after work. Had a great time! :)

What date? You can then look up sunset times. Places like Chankanaab close much earlier than dark. You might plan to come back to ship and clean up and then go to a nice dinner in Cozumel.

 

 

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It'll be next Wed, 2/26/2014 that we'll be in Cozumel. I was thinking Chankanaab also, but I do see they close at 5pm. Thanks for the info! I'll check on sunset time! :)

I hope there's enough sunlight hours for the beach for my 3 year old!

Then after sundown, what's there to do in Cozumel with a 3 year old?

Great review! This will get me through tomorrow's Midwest blizzard.

Side note: I do have to say, you look just like Hugh Dillion from Flashpoint!

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