Carnival Ecstasy As Bad As It Sounds?

[underthemoon53]

On Carnival's website all I really see are horrible reviews. Please please someone tell me it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. It will be my husband and I's second cruise and our families first and I would hate for them to have a bad experience.

[frednsb]

I have read the reviews and did not find them all so horrible. Some ratings for various items were 3 or 4's, but that is above normal. I think the cruise will be great. And, the ship was just in drydock for a freshing-up. New Matresses, paint, etc!

Enjoy!

[RICKnVICK]

You will LOVE the Ecstasy! She is a great size to navigate and recently went into dry dock and had major improvements made. Been on her several times and hated to see her go to New Orleans. We will miss her in Galveston!

 

Make sure you check out the Serenity Deck! Fabulous!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Vicki

[usrbphi]

Sailed on her last year. Great ship. The CD Steve is one of the best. Very talented.

[Raven Days]

No..she is a wondeful ship! I will miss her. Steve is the best CD I have ever had..

[underthemoon53]

Okay thanks guys I feel a lot better now :] Any key things on the ship that are must see's or must do's?

[232271]

i did two cruises on her this year and LOVED it and I usually like the BIG Ships......they are correct STEVE is superb!! Funny and Freindly and he can play a mean fiddle. PLUS the water slides were a BLAST!!!!

dont miss them!

[happy cruzer]

Op, what do you enjoy on the cruise? What are you interested in? What kind of dining do you like? Give us an idea of your expectations and we can provide better details.

[ecn81126]

We just cruised on the Ecstasy Oct 17-22. It was an "okay" cruise, but enough "meh" or "negatives" that we're questioning whether we should continue with Carnival or try out another line. This was our fifth cruise on Carnival and by far our most negative experience. I put up a lengthy review (should be posted soon) but here's the trip in a nutshell:

 

The "Positives":

The Main Dining Room staff we had was great!

"Behind the Fun" tour was amazing.

Deli food was delicious

Smooth embarkation/debarkation out of New Orleans

Serenity Deck was mostly peaceful

Frank at the Piano Bar was fun

Afternoon Tea was great

Loved the layout of the ship

 

The "Mehs":

New Dining Room menu left a lot to be desired, food was good but not "great" as on previous cruises.

Professional Pictures not great or even good/acceptable quality (we've always purchased a few on each cruise before this one).

Hot tubs were often closed for cleaning...lots of puking in the tubs. We also observed passengers wearing everything from a girdle and bra to boxers to *nothing* in the Serenity hot tubs.

Past Guest Party was a big, noisy infomercial.

Comedy Club: Drunk adults and hecklers needed to be dealt with, so the actual "show portion" was only a few minutes long and covered 1-2 topics as opposed to a full 30 minute show.

Large family group cruising: I'm all for families cruising together. But it got to the point where they had a "family chant" based on their last name before each and every show/event/activity, and it was very loud/rude/distracting.

 

 

The "Cons"

Lots of out-of-control kids

Lots of out-of-control drunk adults

Frequent sewage smell in corridors and public areas

Never saw/met the Room Steward

Room Service trays lined the hallways for hours (12+) at a time

Hard to find a chair on Serenity Deck

Very long lines at the Deli and Pizza (30+ minutes at times) with only one worker at each station

 

*We had some rocky seas and had to skip Progresso, which I did not include because it wasn't Carnival's fault. While we were in Cozumel there were four ships, including Oasis of the Seas, so the shopping areas were VERY crowded w/long lines. Again, not Carnival's fault but does add to the overall experience. Finally, our Cozumel excursion had boat/engine troubles and a lack of communication (Passion Island via Catamaran)..again not Carnival's fault. But with some of the private excursions no longer accepting cruise ship passengers, it's worth mentioning.

[underthemoon53]

Op, what do you enjoy on the cruise? What are you interested in? What kind of dining do you like? Give us an idea of your expectations and we can provide better details.

 

I'm really into shows while my husband prefers the bars. He feel in love with the piano bar on the Carnival Legend so hopefully this piano bar is along the same lines. Is there a club I don't know if I saw one listed or not? I just want to be able to show my father-in-law and sister-in-law how awesome cruising is :D

[discjoker]

I cruise on the Ecstasy on the 11th of this month. I have been reading the recent reviews and there are obvious problems going on. When there are multiple reports of the same specific problems (not just general opinions), I have no reason to doubt them. Currently there seems to be major maintenance problems that are affecting the elevators, HVAC system, and the toilet system (which may be leading to sewage smells which have been reported multiple times as of late). Again, there are specific corroborated reports of problems here so they definitely are occurring (unless there is a coordinated effort to make false reports which I find highly unlikely). I guess we will see in just over a week...I am VERY much looking forward to this cruise so I hope I won't be disappointed.

[Universe93B]

We just cruised on the Ecstasy Oct 17-22. It was an "okay" cruise, but enough "meh" or "negatives" that we're questioning whether we should continue with Carnival or try out another line. This was our fifth cruise on Carnival and by far our most negative experience. I put up a lengthy review (should be posted soon) but here's the trip in a nutshell:

 

The "Positives":

The Main Dining Room staff we had was great!

"Behind the Fun" tour was amazing.

Deli food was delicious

Smooth embarkation/debarkation out of New Orleans

Serenity Deck was mostly peaceful

Frank at the Piano Bar was fun

Afternoon Tea was great

Loved the layout of the ship

 

The "Mehs":

New Dining Room menu left a lot to be desired, food was good but not "great" as on previous cruises.

Professional Pictures not great or even good/acceptable quality (we've always purchased a few on each cruise before this one).

Hot tubs were often closed for cleaning...lots of puking in the tubs. We also observed passengers wearing everything from a girdle and bra to boxers to *nothing* in the Serenity hot tubs.

Past Guest Party was a big, noisy infomercial.

Comedy Club: Drunk adults and hecklers needed to be dealt with, so the actual "show portion" was only a few minutes long and covered 1-2 topics as opposed to a full 30 minute show.

Large family group cruising: I'm all for families cruising together. But it got to the point where they had a "family chant" based on their last name before each and every show/event/activity, and it was very loud/rude/distracting.

 

 

The "Cons"

Lots of out-of-control kids

Lots of out-of-control drunk adults

Frequent sewage smell in corridors and public areas

Never saw/met the Room Steward

Room Service trays lined the hallways for hours (12+) at a time

Hard to find a chair on Serenity Deck

Very long lines at the Deli and Pizza (30+ minutes at times) with only one worker at each station

 

*We had some rocky seas and had to skip Progresso, which I did not include because it wasn't Carnival's fault. While we were in Cozumel there were four ships, including Oasis of the Seas, so the shopping areas were VERY crowded w/long lines. Again, not Carnival's fault but does add to the overall experience. Finally, our Cozumel excursion had boat/engine troubles and a lack of communication (Passion Island via Catamaran)..again not Carnival's fault. But with some of the private excursions no longer accepting cruise ship passengers, it's worth mentioning.

 

 

 

Wow, your cruise was definitely one to avoid. Seems like the only thing that was going on was drinking out of control and acting like an idiot.

[stewpapa]

We just cruised on the Ecstasy Oct 17-22. It was an "okay" cruise, but enough "meh" or "negatives" that we're questioning whether we should continue with Carnival or try out another line. This was our fifth cruise on Carnival and by far our most negative experience. I put up a lengthy review (should be posted soon) but here's the trip in a nutshell:

 

The "Positives":

The Main Dining Room staff we had was great!

"Behind the Fun" tour was amazing.

Deli food was delicious

Smooth embarkation/debarkation out of New Orleans

Serenity Deck was mostly peaceful

Frank at the Piano Bar was fun

Afternoon Tea was great

Loved the layout of the ship

 

The "Mehs":

New Dining Room menu left a lot to be desired, food was good but not "great" as on previous cruises.

Professional Pictures not great or even good/acceptable quality (we've always purchased a few on each cruise before this one).

Hot tubs were often closed for cleaning...lots of puking in the tubs. We also observed passengers wearing everything from a girdle and bra to boxers to *nothing* in the Serenity hot tubs.

Past Guest Party was a big, noisy infomercial.

Comedy Club: Drunk adults and hecklers needed to be dealt with, so the actual "show portion" was only a few minutes long and covered 1-2 topics as opposed to a full 30 minute show.

Large family group cruising: I'm all for families cruising together. But it got to the point where they had a "family chant" based on their last name before each and every show/event/activity, and it was very loud/rude/distracting.

 

 

The "Cons"

Lots of out-of-control kids

Lots of out-of-control drunk adults

Frequent sewage smell in corridors and public areas

Never saw/met the Room Steward

Room Service trays lined the hallways for hours (12+) at a time

Hard to find a chair on Serenity Deck

Very long lines at the Deli and Pizza (30+ minutes at times) with only one worker at each station

 

*We had some rocky seas and had to skip Progresso, which I did not include because it wasn't Carnival's fault. While we were in Cozumel there were four ships, including Oasis of the Seas, so the shopping areas were VERY crowded w/long lines. Again, not Carnival's fault but does add to the overall experience. Finally, our Cozumel excursion had boat/engine troubles and a lack of communication (Passion Island via Catamaran)..again not Carnival's fault. But with some of the private excursions no longer accepting cruise ship passengers, it's worth mentioning.

 

 

We got on the Ecstasy the day you got off and agree with your "Pros" and "Mehs" but did not experience any of the "cons" you mentioned. Wehad a couple of our own however. Guess you had an off week and an unruly crowd. We had a great time on the Ecstasy as usual. I'm surprised to hear that some excursions no longer accept cruise passengers as I would suppose that was where they get the majority of their business. That is cutting off their nose to spite their face. weird.

 

OP, see the Ecstasy review I posted today...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1511116

 

Have a great cruise!

[jburk]

I cruised her last oct for my first cruise. LOVED it! Now i didnt havd anything to compare it to but still, i fell in love. I would book her again in a heartbeat!

[New_Orleans_Lady]

We were on the Ecstasy Oct. 22-27 and LOVED it! This was my 4th cruise and first time on the Ecstasy. As with any boat, the experience is what you make of it. Another comment in this thread was from the cruise right before ours. I had a good friend on that cruise and another good friend on the cruise before that. Both of those trips were very rough due to weather. People were sick in the halls, stairways and everywhere. It's a shame the cruise was not what they expected and it shows in their reviews. My friend on the Oct. 17-22 trip said the boat was old and steps creaked. What boat was she on? It's all what you make of it.

 

Yes, the ship is a little outdated, but we LOVED the neon. It was a hoot. It changes colors through the entire atrium and lends itself to a 70's era type atmosphere.

The elevators were not broken at all on our trip. The trip was a gift to my mother who celebrated her 70th birthday and sister who celebrated her 50th. Mother diid not take the stairs once so I would have known had the elevators been slow or broken. Maybe there was an elevator problem due to their rough seas? Remember, they shut 2 of the 4 down when they are moving the luggage in and out.

Yes there were some sewer smells when walking through the ship. I've noticed the same smells on the Triumph and the Conquet. Most reviews of most ships mention those odors.

The food- Absent a Sunday brunch buffet at local hotels, I've never seen a buffet with good food on it. We walked through the buffet and it looked horrible. That may be what sticks in the mind beind the bad reviews. We ate every meal in the dining rooms and there was not a single thing we did not enjoy. Some things a little less than others but over all, it was really good.

 

To answer your question about what to do on board, it depends on what you like to do. We saw people when we were leaving that had a totally different vacation that we did even tho on the same boat. We are not ones to spend all day long on the Lido. We went on the Lido for a while when the band was playing, checked out some of the contests, dance lessons, afternoon shows and enjoyed drinks of the day all day long!

We saw every show in the theater and the comedy shows in between.

My sister is a hoot and played every game etc. and won 3 ships-on-a-stick and a bottle of champagne!

 

Our favorite place was hanging out at the atrium bar on the Empress deck. Grab a seat and have a drink and you'll not want to leave either. Maria is the bartender and she is a joy to watch. She makes the best drinks on board. At the end of the trip, I needed to buy one of the Carnival drink cups to take home and she went to another deck and got it for me.

 

Jerry is the entertainer there and he is just great. He's asian and can sing a song to sound EXACTLY like the original performer. Elvis, country, Sinatra. He's AMAZING. Some nights, the balconies surrounding the atrium are full, all the way up, with people gathered to listen to him.

 

The piano bar is also alot of fun. It's in the neon bar, one level up from the atrium bar. We also went to the tea which was in the neon bar. It was nice. Don't miss it.

 

The past-cruiser's party was nice. They showed a film about how the founder of Carnival came to buy his first boat. He named it the 'Mardi Gras' and it was for his friends. They enjoyed themselves so much, he bought another boat and named the line "Carnival" stemming from the Mardi Gras theme. They went through all the boats ever in the line since the 70's and if you took one of those cruises, you were to clap. It was amazing that some of the people were on most of the boats! Free drinks and it was fun. I didn't think of it as a commercial for Carnival at all. Again, it's what you make of it.

 

Sounds like we spent a lot of times in bars! It was a girl's trip and we're from New Orleans and know how to have a good time, even if we are old!!

 

I hope you're not discouraged by the negative reviews. Take the Ecstasy and have a great time!!

[Ches94]

Cruised on her twice- Feb 2010 and Feb of this year. Girls cruise both times and both trips were fantastic. Just a relaxing, low key trip. We hit the bars/dance club every night after dinner and didn't experience anything even close to what ecn81126 describes.

 

I found the food to be above average-but maybe that's because I don't go out very often;). Service was excellent and I found the ship very clean with no smells (other than a faint smoke smell in cabin-but I tend to be a little sensitive to that). I am also a clean freak because my husband has had a transplant. I think the crew does an amazing job with her given the age that the Ecstasy is.

 

Kids-really the only days we saw kids both trips was embarktion and debarktion.

 

Drunks? Weellll........there was one woman during karaoke this Feb, but she was more OMG funny can't believe she is doing/saying drunk. Aggressive,unruly drunks-nope not on either of my trips.

 

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention we were fogged in Galveston almost 18 hours past when we were suppossed to depart the docks and ended up with a three day cruise to nowhere.

 

All this being said, I am sure there is some variation based upon the mix of passengers at the time. However, as with any travel experience, there is much to be said for just enjoying being away from your day to day routine while someone else cooks, cleans, and does the driving. Throw in plenty of activity to choose from and you have the makings of a terrific trip. Go with an open mind and enjoy your trip-she is a great ship!

 

I guess that was more than my two cents worth:eek:

[carbreylynn]

We sailed the Ecstasy on Aug/Sep of this year, for our first cruise! We loved it everyone is right Steve is hilarious, and honestly it may have just been our cruise but I'd swear there was no more than 50 kids on the whole ship. The quarter games in the casino are fun, we however did not like the show "Xtreme Country". Everything else was awesome though.

[underthemoon53]

We sailed the Ecstasy on Aug/Sep of this year, for our first cruise! We loved it everyone is right Steve is hilarious, and honestly it may have just been our cruise but I'd swear there was no more than 50 kids on the whole ship. The quarter games in the casino are fun, we however did not like the show "Xtreme Country". Everything else was awesome though.

 

Our last cruise I sat in front of those dang quarter machines for hours. You don't make alot of money but they sure are fun. :D

[Duncarob]

The Ecstasy is awesome. You will have a great time. I must be in the minority but I really didn't care for the CD, Steve. Everything he said, it really sounded as if he had said it a million times before...the jokes, everything. Like he was on auto-pilot.

[PenguinLife]

Like the others have said, she is a bit older, but well maintained, this is the smallest class of ships in the Carnival fleet, so fewer passenger, and fewer amenities than the bigger ships, but this does mean you have more of a community atmosphere you see the same people around the ship, it is quicker to get off and on while in port. The downside is less of everything on board, smaller dining rooms, fewer dining options, smaller shops, etc. If your going in the winter you should be aware this class of ship does not have heat, so can get cool in the cabins in the northern gulf when you are near the home port, also no thermostat to control the air conditioning in the cabins, just a vent opening control knob on the ceiling.

 

Ike

[3 MO sisters]

@New Orleans Lady-Jerry was on the Inspiration in February, we had a blast listening to him sing and play guitar! He played in different locations each day and had lots of fans following him around. I hope he's still on the Ecstasy in January!

 

@PenguinLife-The knob on the ceiling in our Inspiration cabin appeared to be a thermostat, because the fan was on all of the time and we were able to control the temperature.

[DebJ14]

We've been on the Ecstasy 5 times, the last times being May 2011 and August 2011. Thanfully, few kids on each sailing because most Texas schools were in session. The ship is in great shape. We have something to compare that to since we first sailed on her in 1993! She looks better now than she did then. We did not have any of the problems others experienced. In fact on our August cruise there weren't even any issues with chair hogs either. We too will miss Steve. He is the most talented CD on the high seas and a nice guy too.

[GaNavy]

I cruise on the Ecstasy on the 11th of this month. I have been reading the recent reviews and there are obvious problems going on. When there are multiple reports of the same specific problems (not just general opinions), I have no reason to doubt them. Currently there seems to be major maintenance problems that are affecting the elevators, HVAC system, and the toilet system (which may be leading to sewage smells which have been reported multiple times as of late). Again, there are specific corroborated reports of problems here so they definitely are occurring (unless there is a coordinated effort to make false reports which I find highly unlikely). I guess we will see in just over a week...I am VERY much looking forward to this cruise so I hope I won't be disappointed.

 

I see your point, but I think these multiple reports came from reviewers who were on the same cruise.

 

Let's hope so....I'm cruising Ecstasy in 3 days.... I promise I'll leave her in good shape for you. I'll post a review when I get back and we can compare notes.

 

Have a great trip! :)

[hlb76]

We just cruised on the Ecstasy Oct 17-22. It was an "okay" cruise, but enough "meh" or "negatives" that we're questioning whether we should continue with Carnival or try out another line. This was our fifth cruise on Carnival and by far our most negative experience. I put up a lengthy review (should be posted soon) but here's the trip in a nutshell:

 

The "Positives":

The Main Dining Room staff we had was great! Man I wish I sat at your table. Ours was fine but not great. Even when we went to breakfast we did not have great servers. But hey I was not cooking or doing dishes!!

"Behind the Fun" tour was amazing. I want to do this one day!

Deli food was delicious

Smooth embarkation/debarkation out of New Orleans 2 thumbs up for sure!

Serenity Deck was mostly peaceful never found this part of the ship

Frank at the Piano Bar was fun

Afternoon Tea was great

Loved the layout of the ship

 

The "Mehs":

New Dining Room menu left a lot to be desired, food was good but not "great" as on previous cruises. Agreed and the food did not taste great either

Professional Pictures not great or even good/acceptable quality (we've always purchased a few on each cruise before this one).

Hot tubs were often closed for cleaning...lots of puking in the tubs. We also observed passengers wearing everything from a girdle and bra to boxers to *nothing* in the Serenity hot tubs. Gotta love the hootchies that where sailing with us for some photography place.

Past Guest Party was a big, noisy infomercial. I did not notice I was too busy trying to wave down a waiter

Comedy Club: Drunk adults and hecklers needed to be dealt with, so the actual "show portion" was only a few minutes long and covered 1-2 topics as opposed to a full 30 minute show.

Large family group cruising: I'm all for families cruising together. But it got to the point where they had a "family chant" based on their last name before each and every show/event/activity, and it was very loud/rude/distracting. This was horrible... there was even one group that we teamed up w/ for a game that told us if they win they get the ship and not to screw it up for them. I was shocked! So glad we later beat there team in the week!

 

 

The "Cons"

Lots of out-of-control kids AMEN I sure hope my kids where not some of them but even they spent a lot of time in the room due to the crazy kids EVERYWHERE

Lots of out-of-control drunk adults The last night we had one locked in his room with security outside all night down the hall

Frequent sewage smell in corridors and public areas

Never saw/met the Room Steward

Room Service trays lined the hallways for hours (12+) at a time I know!!!

Hard to find a chair on Serenity Deck

Very long lines at the Deli and Pizza (30+ minutes at times) with only one worker at each station This was unacceptable. There should never be a wait for pizza like this. The food was OK once cooked but the lines where horrible

 

*We had some rocky seas and had to skip Progresso, which I did not include because it wasn't Carnival's fault. While we were in Cozumel there were four ships, including Oasis of the Seas, so the shopping areas were VERY crowded w/long lines. Again, not Carnival's fault but does add to the overall experience. Finally, our Cozumel excursion had boat/engine troubles and a lack of communication (Passion Island via Catamaran)..again not Carnival's fault. But with some of the private excursions no longer accepting cruise ship passengers, it's worth mentioning. It was a bummer to have such icky weather but I never blamed Carnival!

 

 

 

I was on this same cruise and I can't agree enough with most of this. I was so disappointed that my son friend had this as his first experience. but he was still amazed by it all. The broken elevators,,ugh the broken elevators. I could take the stairs but I left bad for those who where not so lucky.

 

She was a nice ship in good repair. I had seen some bad spots but they seemed to be fixed right away. I was not impressed with the staff anywhere on the ship. There was one good pool waiter Marko and I did enjoy some of the staff who did Trivia and such. We never went to any shows.

[underthemoon53]

I see your point, but I think these multiple reports came from reviewers who were on the same cruise.

 

Let's hope so....I'm cruising Ecstasy in 3 days.... I promise I'll leave her in good shape for you. I'll post a review when I get back and we can compare notes.

 

Have a great trip! :)

 

 

 

I'll be waiting eagerly to see your review, thanks :D