Just back from the Ecstasy!

[moonvine]

And had a great time. I got a lot of really valuable tips here. Just wanted to say thanks, and if anyone has any questions about the Ecstasy I would be happy to try to answer them:)

[TXRoo]

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! :D

 

What did you do???

 

Where did you go on Cozumel and at PDC???

 

Inquiring minds would hate to have to throttle the info out of you! :D

[moonvine]

OK...lets see. Embarkation was a breeze. I liked embarking in Galveston, everyone was so very friendly. In fact, the person who checked me in saw me when I debarked and mentioned that she had checked me in and asked me how my trip was. I was super impressed by that - I'm sure she checks in hundreds of people. One thing I did not know was that Carnival considers a "reasonable amount" of soda to be a six pack of cans. Fortunately the porter warned me so I hid the rest. I still ended up buying the soda card. I really do not drink much alcohol and I would skip the 8 drink tickets next time, since I only used 3. I hope they stay good. Our group got tons of wine and champagne from the travel agent and we all went to the Captains cocktail party and had a private cocktail party, and that was more than enough for me.

 

I heard complaints about the service on this board but I found the service to be consistently good, especially my cabin steward and the dining room staff.

OK, the guy who makes the deli sandwiches is still a little grumpy.

 

I pretty much wasted the first day at sea by going to the travel and tourism talk and the shopping talk. The travel and tourism talk consisted of the cruise director pushing all the Carnival shore trips. The shopping talk consisted of the shopping guy pushing the expensive shops at the pier. I went to the art auction too. Wanted to see it, but once was enough. I like unique art, not one of 300 identical pieces. Not like I needed to spend any more money anyway though:) I am also less than thrilled about having a camera in my face every 30 seconds, but I guess that is common to all cruise ships. I must say I am a bad passenger and don't really spend a lot of money on the ship itself.

 

I was somewhat disappointed by the food. I did not go on the cruise for the food, but I hear a lot of raves about the food here and I just didn't think it was that great. Most of the Lido deck food had no taste at all. It wasn't bad, just tasteless. The salad bar was ok. The pizza was ok. The dining room food was pretty good, with some exceptions that were REALLY good - pumpkin soup was great.

 

In Cozumel I did discover SCUBA with 2 of my friends. There were only 4 people on the boat and we were 3 of them. It was amazing and we are all planning to get certified now. Cheaper and better than the cruise discover SCUBA. We used http://www.eagleraydivers.com They recommended a place for us to eat lunch downtown and then we wandered around and shopped. I got some great deals and unusual items, including a pair of amethyst earrings for $10 and a ring I love and will wear every day for $45. We avoided the shops on the pier.

 

In Playa del Carmen I went to Xcaret and did the dolphin swim, which I had prebooked online. Xcaret is just SO AMAZING. I couldn't even scratch the surface in the mere 6 hours I had there. If I ever get married I want to get married there. I did fall a couple of times (I have some balance problems due to nerve damage and there are lots of stairs with no railings). Still worth it.

 

I went to one show, which was pretty good, and one late night comedian, whose comedy didn't appeal to me. Self-deprecating humor is not my thing.

 

Spent most of the day yesterday walking around the ship and looking at stuff I hadn't seen yet. Went up to the topless deck (no one there).

 

Debarkation was somewhat of a nightmare. Somehow my luggage managed to shrink while I was at sea? :confused: I was carrying so much stuff that I managed to put my makeup bag (which is usually in my suitcase but would not fit) down somewhere and lose it. Fortunately some nice person turned it in to the pursers desk - I had been really upset because it had my swimming with dolphins DVD in it. Then there was a 2 hour wait for a taxi because of Mardi Gras, but fortunately I got a ride back to the hotel where I left my car with a friend.

 

Whew, think this post is long enough now!

[TXRoo]

Moonvine, thank you *SO* much for taking the time to write a review! We are going next week and I really appreciate it! I am glad you had a great time at Xcaret...we plan on doing that. I hope all is well and I am sorry you fell. :(

 

Thanks so much and have a wonderful evening!

[moonvine]

Moonvine, thank you *SO* much for taking the time to write a review! We are going next week and I really appreciate it! I am glad you had a great time at Xcaret...we plan on doing that. I hope all is well and I am sorry you fell. :(

 

Thanks so much and have a wonderful evening!

 

Xcaret is GREAT, you will love it. It is not crowded either, or wasn't when I was there. :):)

[Blndiebby25]

Thanks moonvine for the review. I am not sailing on the Ecstasy but it is nice to know that the port talk and the travel talk sounds like a waste of time. I was planning to go to these, as this will be my first cruise, but I think I will skip them as there is so many more exciting things to do on board.

 

Thanks again!

[sharkaymon]

What about your cabin? What about the bed and bedding? Comfy, scratchy,what? Did you ever order room service? Any loud cruisers in the halls late at night? :cool:

[moonvine]

What about your cabin? What about the bed and bedding? Comfy, scratchy,what? Did you ever order room service? Any loud cruisers in the halls late at night? :cool:

 

Hi there,

 

My cabin was great, though I didn't spend much time there. Bedding was comfy. The beds were already pushed together - I don't know if they noticed I was travelling alone and were being proactive or what. It was very COLD in the cabin and I am too short to reach the vent but it was no problem getting it turned off. The toilets stopped working on our floor for a very brief time, but they had a plumber within 5 minutes to fix them.

 

I did order room service twice, when I was too rushed to go sit down and eat. It was FAST. Food was ok.

 

I did not notice any loud cruisers. I slept VERY well once I got used to the noise of the toilets flushing.

[ginag]

moonvine.....glad you enjoyed the Ecstasy! I agree with you about the deli guy.....he was one grumpy gus!!! :eek:

[Txcruisers04]

Glad you had a great time..we also had a blast!!Hey who were your waiters in the dining room??

 

We had Zoran and Zvonimair both from Croatia!And what was funny is we ran into one of our former waiters Damir!!It was really neat to get to see him after a year or so!!

 

Do you have any pictures to post?

 

see ours at http://community.webshots.com/user/wards03

 

Thanks!

[dwell]

Moonvine. hello from New Braunfels. We are going on Ecstacy on Feb. 7th. Was there one formal night? Was it the first night at sea? Glad to hear you had a great time. Thanks for the update.

[moonvine]

Glad you had a great time..we also had a blast!!Hey who were your waiters in the dining room??

 

We had Zoran and Zvonimair both from Croatia!And what was funny is we ran into one of our former waiters Damir!!It was really neat to get to see him after a year or so!!

 

Do you have any pictures to post?

 

see ours at http://community.webshots.com/user/wards03

 

Thanks!

 

Hi, we had Roberta at one table. I remember her because she was really good with the kids. Since we had 4 big tables + 1 smaller table just for our group we tended to switch around some, which I am sure drove the waiters crazy:( So I don't remember all their names. Roberta was great though:)

[moonvine]

Moonvine. hello from New Braunfels. We are going on Ecstacy on Feb. 7th. Was there one formal night? Was it the first night at sea? Glad to hear you had a great time. Thanks for the update.

 

Yes, there was one formal night and it was the first night at sea:)

[akmart]

moonvine -

 

Thanks so much for the review! We are going on March 7th - I can't wait!!:)

[karenh1127]

moonvine -

 

Thanks so much for the review! We are going on March 7th - I can't wait!!:)

We are going March 7th too!!! I cant wait and neither can the kids!! I too have learned alot from these boards and the reviews.

 

MOONVINE: What deck were you on? Also, I booked excursions online thru Carnival and when I got our docs there was no mention of them..? Do you know if we get any paperwork on excursions?

[moonvine]

We are going March 7th too!!! I cant wait and neither can the kids!! I too have learned alot from these boards and the reviews.

 

MOONVINE: What deck were you on? Also, I booked excursions online thru Carnival and when I got our docs there was no mention of them..? Do you know if we get any paperwork on excursions?

 

Hi, I was on the Riviera.

 

I wasn't able to book excursions online. I didn't book the Cozumel excursion through Carnival. I booked the Calica excursion through Carnival, but not online - I got a ticket in an envelope under my door the day I booked it. I am not sure about online booking since we couldn't do it..sorry:(

[ajneedhams]

Hi-

 

We're on the Ectasy 4/4. Was this the 5 night trip you were on? I thought there were 2 formal nights. Or perhaps one would be called "smart casual?" Could you definitely tell the formal night from the other 4?

 

Thanks! Glad you had a good time.

[RonandNan2]

So glad to "talk" with someone just coming from the Ecstasy. This is our first cruise...excited, nervous, etc....

 

About formal night...the first night at sea meaning the night of the day we depart or the first full day/night...ie...leave Galveston Saturday...formal night on Sunday??

 

Thanks bunches!!:D

[karenh1127]

This will be my first cruise but to my understanding formal night is the first full day at sea. We leave on a Monday and formal night is Tuesday night. Hope that helps. Oh and i think we only have one formal night for a 5 day cruise.

[RonandNan2]

Miss Karenh1127,

Yes, ma'am...that answers my question perfectly! THANK YOU!!

[moonvine]

Hi-

 

We're on the Ectasy 4/4. Was this the 5 night trip you were on? I thought there were 2 formal nights. Or perhaps one would be called "smart casual?" Could you definitely tell the formal night from the other 4?

 

Thanks! Glad you had a good time.

 

The 5 night cruise only has one formal night. 7 night cruises have 2 formal nights. I don't know what they called the other nights..I can check my capers when I get home.

[Tracy1]

Thanks moonvine for the review. I am not sailing on the Ecstasy but it is nice to know that the port talk and the travel talk sounds like a waste of time. I was planning to go to these, as this will be my first cruise, but I think I will skip them as there is so many more exciting things to do on board.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

You might want to go to the port and shopping talk if this is your first time on a cruise. I would. Another option is to check to see if they play it on the tv in your room from time to time, then you can watch it while you're getting dressed or something. At the very least, read through the information they give you on each port (beaches, taxi and other transportation info, interesting shops etc.)

[Tracy1]

Glad you had a great time..we also had a blast!!Hey who were your waiters in the dining room??

 

We had Zoran and Zvonimair both from Croatia!And what was funny is we ran into one of our former waiters Damir!!It was really neat to get to see him after a year or so!!

 

Do you have any pictures to post?

 

see ours at http://community.webshots.com/user/wards03

 

Thanks!

 

thanks for posting these pictures. Looking at them helps me get excited about our cruise in April!

[moonvine]

You might want to go to the port and shopping talk if this is your first time on a cruise. I would. Another option is to check to see if they play it on the tv in your room from time to time, then you can watch it while you're getting dressed or something. At the very least, read through the information they give you on each port (beaches, taxi and other transportation info, interesting shops etc.)

 

That is what I thought as well, and that is why I went to the talk, but I found it a huge waste of time. They really really push you to stay on the pier, and I found better bargains as well as better quality of goods off the pier.

[moonvine]

Glad you had a great time..we also had a blast!!Hey who were your waiters in the dining room??

 

We had Zoran and Zvonimair both from Croatia!And what was funny is we ran into one of our former waiters Damir!!It was really neat to get to see him after a year or so!!

 

Do you have any pictures to post?

 

see ours at http://community.webshots.com/user/wards03

 

Thanks!

 

Hey,

 

None of my pictures are up yet, but some of the other members that were on our cruise have some at

 

http://www.keyflux.com/gas/album/

 

Mine will be up later, probably much later as I had a bunch of disposable cameras I haven't taken to get developed yet.