matt1

This is among the more cherished souvenirs from my cruising days on Carnival… 😎

A few pictures taken in Aliaga of the Carnival Ecstasy (and other cruise ships being scrapped) have appeared on a Shipbreaking Facebook Group page…

According to Marine Traffic, Carnival Ecstasy is now on the beach. I’m sure we’ll see a video pop up somewhere. 😢

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-ship-reaches-scrapyard-after-31-years-in-service/86798

CARNIVAL ECSTASY is now cruising the Aegean Sea on the last leg of her journey to Aliaga, where she is due to arrive tomorrow. Current screenshot shows the ship just left of center, with Athens on the left and Aliaga near the upper right…

For those keeping tabs, the Carnival Ecstasy passed thru the Strait of Gibraltar today and is well on her way to Aliaga. For clarity of the screenshots I removed most all other types of ships except passenger vessels… 😎

RCI and Princess are my go-to cruise lines, but much prefer anything sailing from NYC (Cape Liberty or Manhattan). Would love to try NCL, and have been looking at them for December year as well. I truly enjoy the experiences different cruise lines offer.

I cut my cruising teeth on the Fantasy-class, beginning with the ECSTASY in 1993. That was followed by IMAGINATION and SENSATION (1995), FANTASY and INSPIRATION (1996), ECSTASY again (1997), and finally PARADISE (1998). That last one was probably the singular, most unique Carnival cruise, since PARADISE was brand new and billed as the world’s first completely No Smoking cruise ship, with the No Smoking symbols painted on her hull and flying the No Smoking sign flag from her bow mast. After PARADISE my cruising wings sort of sprouted and I went back-and-forth for dozens of cruises between Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland-America, two or three times back to CCL in the early 2000’s, Cunard, Celebrity, and then finally back to Royal Caribbean. It’s been a wild ride. Hopefully, I’m looking forward to maybe trying the new CARNIVAL VENEZIA next December out of NYC.

I can’t even tell you how disappointing I am for not booking this. I went back and forth, hemmed and hawed, made spreadsheets, tore my rotator cuff, went through weeks of PT, had multiple Ortho visits, made more spreadsheets, broke down pricing, and watched a ton more videos. In the end I just couldn’t pull that trigger. I’m probably going to regret this decision, and I know it’s probably the deal of the century, but… ☹️

Valiant Lady in the off-season does alternating 8/6 night cruises from Miami before heading back to the Med.

Interesting comment. I actually had to look up what Cruise Directors do, and how it impacted my past cruises. And I’m not sure it did. I’ve never been one to even care what the Cruise Director’s name is, easily could have done without any pre- and post-show commentary, and rarely ever went to shows in the first place. Other than attending the occasional game of trivia, I pretty much kept myself busy just wondering around the ship, watching the ocean and the world go by, and just doing absolutely nothing important. I think in the case of Virgin Voyages, no Cruise Director is just fine by me.

THANK YOU again to everyone for the tips and advice. Very much appreciated! Lots to do and think about. 😎 This is all very exciting!

For the international air to Barcelona and pre-cruise hotel, would I indeed be better off booking this as a package with Virgin Voyages?

I’ve never done a transatlantic cruise, and have never cruised with Virgin Voyages. Most all of the cruises that I have done were Eastern/Western Caribbean and Bahamas, Canada/NE, Alaska, and the short cruises out of LA, and with most all the mass market cruise lines over the past 33 years. I did spend quite a bit of time at sea in the 12 years I was in the US Navy and racked up 10 years of sea time. So I’ve got that going for me. LOL 😉 That being said, the Oct. 29, 2023 14-night Barcelona to Miami cruise is a steal and just too good of a deal to pass up for a single-occupancy sailor as myself. I have done a few longer cruises, but not one that had soooo many sea days, which I’m sure that I’ll love. Being sort of an introvert, I’m sure that I can find plenty to do by reading a book, catching up on some movies on the in-cabin entertainment system, people-watching, and gazing out at the horizon from my balcony while relaxing in a hammock. The ports of call - Ibiza, Malaga, and Funchal - are almost secondary in my mind, since I’d primarily be doing this for the ship. So, I’m wondering if there are any cons to doing a two-week stretch on Valiant Lady? For those that have sailed with Virgin Voyages, do you think that 14-nights is too much of a good thing? THANK YOU in advance for your insights! 😁

NAILED IT. 😎