Carnival Ecstasy January 26th-30th review

[underthemoon53]

Just got back from a wonderful 4 day cruise aboard the Carnival Ecstasy which left out of terminal 3 at Port Canaveral. So here goes my review :D

Day 1

My family lives just outside of Orlando so we left Thursday morning around 10:30am and got to the port around 12ish. It was $75 dollars to park using the parking lot that belonged to Carnival, unlike other ports this parking seems to be your only choice. The whole getting aboard process went very quick we got on the boat around 1 and our staterooms were ready at 1:30pm. We had bottles of Crown and Bacardi waiting in our staterooms when we arrived to get the day started right. We were all pretty worn out so we relaxed and check out the boat which was very very clean and remained very clean throughout the cruise. I wish everyone luck with finding a spot in any of the four hot tubs though, it was a constant fight to find room for four people and it always seemed the same people were hogging them.

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Day 2

We arrived at our first port which was Nassau at 12:00pm and had till 7:30pm to return the ship. On this cruise we decided to just wing everything and not book any excursions, which may or may not have been a mistake. Nassau is not a pretty port and the place was packed with tourist and some of the worst driving I've ever seen. I swear every car looked like it had been in a wreck at least once and we heard an ambulance siren at least every half an hour. When we docked there were four other cruise ships in port so this most defiantly added to the busyness of the place, We ate lunch a Senor Frogs which was a very tourist place and was quite expensive for five people to eat at. The people working there were all in good spirits though and the place had a very upbeat atmosphere. We also went to the Green Parrot which was very low keyed and filled with locals. The drinks were good and they had free wifi for anyone buying a drink. One word of warning nothing and I mean nothing is free!!! When we first got to the port a group of women attacked us for a lack of a better word. Before I knew what had happened I had a necklace around my neck and was told it was free but if we were nice people we would give a donation whien I refused the necklace was taken off my neck lol. My family members were suckered in to donating ten dollars for necklaces that were probably less than a dollar to make. We also check out the little beach in the area called Junkanoo beach which was a nice little beach to get out of the heat.

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[geoherb]

Thanks for the start of a good review. We're going to Nassau on the Fantasy in March. My first cruise was 25 years ago on the Carnivale. It sounds like they're still doing the free necklace for a donation scam that they did back then. We're not planning to get off the ship.

[dulcimergirl]

Great review, how was the water temp? Were there loads of people at the beach? I will be there next week.. Lovely photo also.. :)

[underthemoon53]

okay let me start again I closed my window and lost everything :/

Day 3

This was our day at sea and boy was it a gorgeous day, the previous night was very windy but the breeze on day 3 was just right. We got up early and got some breakfast, played putt putt before it got to busy, hung out at the waterworks for a bit, and finally got some hot tub time. They did the hairy chest contest and it was such a hoot everyone was having a good time. I'd like to take the time to say that most the staff was amazing, except for the crew whole cleaned our stateroom. They would leave dirty plates and cups and when they did take the dirty ones they would not replace them with clean ones. My husband had to call and request some glasses because between the two staterooms we didn't have any. They also rarely replaced the ice in our ice buckets and only once did they pull out the top bunk and turn it down for my sister in law. The food was average carnival cruise food with some of the stuff being really yummy and some of the food just not cutting it. They did have a Mexican buffet during the deck party which was out of this world, the cooking staff did a wonderful job with that. Everyone except for me was a smoker so we had to hang out in places that allowed smoking for a good chunk of the time the places that allow smoking are Stripes the club, the left side of the Metropolis bar, certain slot machines in the casino, and one side of the deck near the pool. This was also the night that we did some Elegant portraits we ended up buying two of them which came up to a grand total of $43 dollars and some change.

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[underthemoon53]

Great review, how was the water temp? Were there loads of people at the beach? I will be there next week.. Lovely photo also.. :)

The water temp was on the chilly side, but it was a sunny day and it didn't take long for you to get used to it. There were a good amount of people at both the beaches we went to at each port but there was always room for you to layout your towel and put your stuff down.

[underthemoon53]

Thanks for the start of a good review. We're going to Nassau on the Fantasy in March. My first cruise was 25 years ago on the Carnivale. It sounds like they're still doing the free necklace for a donation scam that they did back then. We're not planning to get off the ship.

We got made fun of the whole cruise for falling for the scam lol but they come out of now where!! I hope you guys have a great cruise.

[underthemoon53]

Day 4

Our last day before heading home and our second port stop. It was the port at Freeport and when the boat pulls up it totally throws you off. This port is nothing more but than a few stands and industrial parks, you have to take a taxi to really see anything. We took at taxi ride which was 5 dollars a person to Port Lucaya which is a cute little port with tons of little shops, bar and grills, its walking distance to the beach, and its right on the marina (Pelican Bay). My husband and I almost thing this was our favorite place to visit from all the ports we've been to. Everyone was very friendly and there were a lot less people trying to scam you or force you to buy something. We ate lunch at a place called the Dive-in which is right on the water by the marina and it was excellent. We had conch fritters which were very good and the bar tender gave us free shots and told us a little about the port. The staff was beyond nice and I wish there owner could have been there so I could have told them how great of a staff he has. There was one creepy guy at the beach who was touching my sister in laws hair and asking here if she wanted to buy weed, but that was the only incident we had there. A lot of the bars had $1 shots and two for $5 dollar beers which was a giant plus.

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[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Great review so far. Can't wait for the rest. I haven't been on a Fantasy class ship in a while and I'm thinking about the Paradise in a couple months for a short weekend cruise.

[underthemoon53]

Rest of day 4 and getting off the ship

Once we got back on the boat we relaxed and we went and saw one of the adult comedy shows, the guy was hilarious. Going to a comedy show is a must I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. This morning my sister in law had to make a 9:30am class which she ended up making. We were on the Rivera deck which is right above the gang way and a lady at guess services suggested we just head down there at 7:30am. It worked and we were off the boat before they even made the first announcement for people to get off. This was my first review so if I left anything out sorry and if you have any questions I'll gladly answer :]

-Vikki-