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. 😎

THANKS for the review. I’m pretty sure that I’m gonna love Virgin Voyages as well, I just need to “let my hair down a little bit” and quit being an old fuddy-duddy. I think I was using my default cruise line as Royal Caribbean only because they were a drive-to-port. There really wasn’t anything out of Baltimore that I cared for, so Anthem of the Seas was my first choice when narrowing down options. NCL really wasn’t ever a consideration until now, and then somehow I found Virgin Voyages with the “no single occupancy surcharge”. I think they had me at “AHOY, sailor”. 😉

WONDERFUL review and insights on the Royal Caribbean and Virgin Voyages comparison. VERY much appreciated! 😁

I think what I need to do now is sit down over the next week and drum up a few itinerary and port of embarkation specific questions for the Virgin Voyages Forum. Maybe I was getting a little too comfortable with the RCI routine and need to break out of my comfort zone and go crazy. LOL This is both scary and exhilarating at the same time! 😳😉 Life is an adventure. Take risks. 😎

@WheresWalter Quite the informative video!!! Very much appreciated. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 I do wish RCI had better availability and more options for their single-occupancy guests without paying a 200% surcharge, and that’s the driving force that’s pushing me towards Virgin Voyages, especially with their more competitive all-inclusive pricing approach. I’ve even price compared several RCI and Princess options, and I keep going back to Virgin Voyages where I can get a balcony on Valiant Lady for the price of an interior cabin on other lines. As for ship design, I loved that whole Royal Esplanade and The Via walkway running into Two70 on Anthem of the Seas - it was simply gorgeous, open, and inviting. Don’t get me wrong, and it’s not that the single-deck public spaces and more “intimate” approach is bad or would feel claustrophobic, it’s just different. Overall, Valiant Lady looks really amazing. It’s been mentioned to maybe try a shorter cruise instead of hoping onto a 14-night transatlantic, so I’ve been looking at Dec. 2023 cruises out of south Florida. Sooooo many cruises, so little time. 😁

Much appreciated. I also happened to have found an old Celebrity Cruises Tuesday Specials and they did use to show the Single Occupancy surcharge. That must’ve been the one I was thinking about.

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but didn’t “way back in the day” they’d list what the single-occupancy surcharge was on their “Tuesday Specials” bulletin? Or am I thinking of another cruise line?

It may be no big deal for you, but in my case every little bit helps in the overall pricing of the trip. And maybe it’s the lack of a 200% single occupancy surcharge, and the “all inclusive” nature (specialty restaurants included) of the cruise rate, but I have yet to find any transatlantic cruise next fall (comparing balcony cabin to balcony cabin) that even comes close in pricing, with Valiant Lady easily being $1000-$1500 cheaper - and that’s before adding in tips, basic drink package, specialty meals, and Wi-Fi on the other ships. I particularly like the free scooped ice cream. 😉 That’s why it’s so difficult to pass this up. And it’s a shame I’m not traveling this November, looks like they’re giving everyone a $300 bar tab. Nice.

Superb post!!! This would be enough to change anyone’s mind. Very well done. 👍🏻😎

Thanks again for all of the great input. Since Anthem of the Seas was the last ship I sailed, I can’t help but keep comparing the entertainment and dining options against that of Valiant Lady. One of my biggest hesitations on booking this cruise is the dining - I’m definitely a dress-down casual diner using the buffet for practically every meal, with the occasional Italian or other specialty restaurant to break up my routine. Going in and surveying the options, grabbing what I want, and my eat-and-run kind of mentality (I thank all those years in the military for that) all weight significantly on the ships I choose. Sitting down and ordering from a menu for multi-course meals sort of kills it for me. And The Galley on Valiant Lady appears to leave a lot to be desired. Having watched quite a few videos on the dining options, ships with a full buffet (like what was on Anthem of the Seas) win every time over the sit down venues on Virgin. And as the last post indicated, I don’t consider myself a prude either. But the risqué entertainment is way out of my comfort range, as are late nights (I’m usually in bed well before 11pm even on a cruise) and LOUD anything - and being on the ship for 14-nts I don’t want to resort to in-cabin movies as my sole method of leisure. On Anthem I loved the Music Hall and two70, and truly enjoyed just simple daily events like Trivia or stage shows (sort of like The Beatle's music celebration or We Will Rock You). With all of that said, I think that I’m talking myself out of this. ☹️

I can definitely see that happening on the Caribbean or Med week-long or shorter cruises. But I wonder if that still holds true for the longer 14-night one-way trans-ocean cruises, that would seemingly draw maybe a slightly more sedate or older crowd? 🤔