Short Cruise - Long Review - Ecstasy 4-14-2012

[ElvisAndretti]

I've been a bit careless about bandwidth and it looks as if Photobucket may cap me any time now. I won't add any more photos there so that what is already posted can stay up a bit longer.

In the meantime I'm going to a big edit on what I've posted so far and turn it into a series of blog posts. I'll be back with a URL as soon as there's something to see. I'll add more photos, links and stuff to make it worth the trip.

I might even include some content that would be moderated out of existance by the powers that be on Cruise Critic. Watch this space, fun times are on the way. :o

[ElvisAndretti]

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[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]OK, I know there are some folks that won't go to an external URL, so let me finish up here with our last morning on the Ecstasy. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We had left our curtains open each day we were on board, except for the day at sea, so that we would wake with the sun. On our last day the sun managed to come up at 5:00 AM though. This really confused the hell out of my hung over self. I got up to look out to see why the sun was coming up early, on the wrong side of the damn ship. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3](Imagine a photo of a street light here)[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]Well, turns out it wasn't the sun, it was a big ugly streetlight on the dock in Port Canaveral. We were back. I closed the curtains and tried to get back to sleep when it happened. Previously we had not heard a peep from our neighbors on either side, but that was about to change. At 6:00 AM somebody done blowed up! "F*** YOU! F-this, F-them, F the ship, F any chance of ever doing this again... ten minutes of a monosyllabic, expletive laden rant at a volume level that would have done a Deep Purple concert proud. Then it was over. [/FONT][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri] In fact, it was all over but the debarkation. We got up, cleaned up and packed up the last of our stuff, the 'carry off' items. We were instructed to head up to the Starlight Lounge in the aft of the ship. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]When our number was called we headed to the elevators, you know the only four elevators that go to deck three. Needless to say, we walked down the steps carrying our bags because getting on an elevator was not in the cards. We got off the ship ok, but between the ship and the baggage claim we had our first encounter with a real loser. A big, mean looking woman with a giant suitcase (we'll call her broadzilla since we don't know her name) decided she had just about enough of waiting her turn for everything. She started pushing people out of the way to get ahead. She ran her gigantic suitcase right over a little old ladies' foot and almost knocked her over. Broadzilla never looked back. She pushed her way past everyone waiting to get into the baggage barn and I was hoping that would be the last I would see of her. [/SIZE][/FONT]

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[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3](Imagine a photo of Divine from Pink Flamingos here)[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]As soon as we were in the baggage barn we were accosted by very aggressive porters offering to help with our bags. Now, there's not a lot of space in the baggage barn for people to move as it is, but when you have a guy following you with a cart yelling "can I help you sir>" it can get downright dicey. We finally gave them the slip, got our bags and headed for customs. I missed it, but Hope noticed something while we were going through customs. Broadzilla was off to one side being questioned by the customs agents. When last seen she was going to the special room where they give the really important people a special last minute extra bit of customer service, if you know what I mean. [/SIZE][/FONT]

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[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3](Imagine a photo of Divine from Pink Flamingos getting a cavity search here.)[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We got clear of customs and on our way back to the parking lot where we were dropped off we passed a line of cabs. Light Bulb!! Rather than wait for the Hertz truck to show up (who knows when?) we got a cab. 20 minutes later we had our rental car. A Nissan Rogue, a small SUV like appliance that made me miss our Subaru Forester. (Well, we were in Florida, truth be told I was REALLY missing the Mustang) It got the job done, but I really would have preferred the full size American car we had reserved and paid for. Turns out the Rogue was considered an "Upgrade" so we were getting a deal. Could have fooled me. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We bade Port Canaveral farewell and headed out to explore Florida. First stop, NASA Kennedy Space Center.[/SIZE][/FONT]

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[Lovharvey]

[I][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4][COLOR=blue]Great review and pictures. We sure hated to lose the Ecstasy. She is a wonderful ship. I noticed you didn't say anything about seeing any of the shows except the first night. Steve Casell, your CD, plays a mean fiddle. I think he is super good. He is in one of the shows. You definitely have to take an Alaskan cruise. They are wonderful.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/I]

[ElvisAndretti]

[quote name='Lovharvey'][I][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4][COLOR=blue]Great review and pictures. We sure hated to lose the Ecstasy. She is a wonderful ship. I noticed you didn't say anything about seeing any of the shows except the first night. Steve Casell, your CD, plays a mean fiddle. I think he is super good. He is in one of the shows. You definitely have to take an Alaskan cruise. They are wonderful.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/I][/quote]

We skipped the other shows. My wife used to work in the show business and we both love music, so we spend a lot of time on land at concerts, festivals and plays. Based on our first experience we figured our time could be spent better elsewhere. The thing I liked best about cruising was that I could do anything or nothing. If you didn't like something there was always something else.

We did go to two comedy shows and they were better than I expected.

The only thing I regret not seeing was the newlywed game dealie, we saw that on the video feed and it was pretty funny.

[cruiserdunn]

Great review. We were on this cruise and you couldn't have said it any better. We had a fantastic time as well. Can't wait to start planning the next one. We even stayed at the Springhill Suites before cruising too!!! It truly is a small world.

Anyone having second thoughts about booking this ship, don't. It's great!!!

[ElvisAndretti]

[quote name='cruiserdunn']Great review. We were on this cruise and you couldn't have said it any better. We had a fantastic time as well. Can't wait to start planning the next one. We even stayed at the Springhill Suites before cruising too!!! It truly is a small world.

Anyone having second thoughts about booking this ship, don't. It's great!!![/quote]

I liked that hotel, for a lower priced airport property it was everything we needed and then some. I would actually consider staying there the whole trip if Orlando was my primary destination. The place we got close to Universal was not nearly as nice and cost about the same amount.

[ElvisAndretti]

Actually, it's starting over, here:

[URL]http://rayandhope.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-i-did-on-my-spring-vacation-part.html[/URL]

I'm trying to be a bit more selective with the photos, so it's taking a bit longer to put together, but I don't think they'll cap my bandwidth or censor anything.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Great review! I have a question for ya.

In Nassau, at Blue Lagoon, would you say that there were a bunch of kids running around? Dont get me wrong, we like kids (I actually have 2 of them :p) but on vacations we like to relax away from squealing kids. I am planning ahead for our next visit to Nassau (that we havent even booked yet) and this place looks awesome from your pics.

Is there a portion of beach that is a little more secluded than the area where the inflatable slides are? I think I would enjoy those slides though. :o

[ElvisAndretti]

[quote name='All4fun&fun4all']Great review! I have a question for ya.

In Nassau, at Blue Lagoon, would you say that there were a bunch of kids running around? Dont get me wrong, we like kids (I actually have 2 of them :p) but on vacations we like to relax away from squealing kids. I am planning ahead for our next visit to Nassau (that we havent even booked yet) and this place looks awesome from your pics.

Is there a portion of beach that is a little more secluded than the area where the inflatable slides are? I think I would enjoy those slides though. :o[/quote]

We camped out at the far end of the lagoon, it was quiet enough to fall asleep actually. The kids are drawn to the floating playground dealie which is close to where the boat docks. But there was a beach on the ocean side of the island that was totally deserted when we were there.

It seems like a lot of the families were over by the Dolphin Encounter most of the day anyway.

"Your Mileage May Vary" disclaimer: there were not that many kids on our ship in general. They were more evident at the Blue Lagoon, but not so much so that they were annoying in any way. :D Except for this one little maniac who almost knocked my wife over twice on the Lido deck while we were in Freeport.

[ElvisAndretti]

Key West is up on the blog with some new photos.


[url]http://rayandhope.blogspot.com/2012/05/ecstasy-cruise-day-two-key-west.html[/url]

Sorry about the formatting, I'll get the hang of it soon.

[ElvisAndretti]

Another blog post. Our FUN DAY AT SEA! And formal night too.

[URL]http://rayandhope.blogspot.com/2012/05/ecstasy-day-three-im-on-boat.html[/URL]

[ElvisAndretti]

I've capped out on my bandwidth allotment on Photobucket, entirely my fault, I didn't read the fine print.

All of the photos can be seen at [URL]http://www.rayandhope.blogspot.com/[/URL]

The latest post is Nassau.

[URL]http://www.rayandhope.blogspot.com/2012/05/ecstasy-day-four-nassau.html[/URL]

We did the blue lagoon excursion and chef's table on our fourth day, it was a highlight of the trip.

[ElvisAndretti]

My account of our day in Freeport is now up on the blog with new photos. The highlight of the was a sailing trip on the Alexander Von Humboldt.

That and waterslides.

And Margaritas.

[URL]http://rayandhope.blogspot.com/2012/05/day-five-freeport.html[/URL]

[NCTribeFan]

I'm on a B2B on Ecstasy in November, with DD & her new DH joining me on leg 2, as well as the friend who introduced me to cruising.

She loves to sail, so when i saw that excursion, I figured we'd need to do ot. This is the first review I've found.

Sounds like it is money well spent (and I just discovered a 10% coupon). I normally avoid ship excursions totally, but when it's the only way to do something I really want to do, well, just have to bite the bullet.

Thanks for the review and photos!

[ElvisAndretti]

[quote name='NCTribeFan']I'm on a B2B on Ecstasy in November, with DD & her new DH joining me on leg 2, as well as the friend who introduced me to cruising.

She loves to sail, so when i saw that excursion, I figured we'd need to do ot. This is the first review I've found.

Sounds like it is money well spent (and I just discovered a 10% coupon). I normally avoid ship excursions totally, but when it's the only way to do something I really want to do, well, just have to bite the bullet.

Thanks for the review and photos![/quote]

that sounds like a great idea, I wondered why people did back to back cruises until I found myself getting of the Ecstasy long before I had tried all of the things I wanted to do.

My wife is currently going through all the photographs using photoshop to clean them up. When she is done I'll use the blog to put up more photos. I'm going to post scans of the fun times soon as well, stay tuned.

[NCTribeFan]

To be honest, I had wanted to do another long cruise (I was shocked that I didn't get bored to death on that Hawaii cruise - we had 9 days at sea!), but couldn't get anyone who could take off that much time from work.

It's not like I really WANT to go to Freeport and Nassau twice in 9 days! But, hey! I'll be cruising. The first leg is 5 days - Freeport, Nassau and the incredible Half Moon Cay. I'm not even a beach person, but I feel in love with this place. It'll be my sixth visit. That leg of the trip, I'll be solo, and I plan on doing next to nothing except relaxing.

If you get a chance to go there, do it! It poured rain last November, but I still loved it. Rented a clamshell and just sat under there and read all day and looked out at the ship.

Anyway, I'm going to send the code to my cruising buddy and go ahead and book the Von Humboldt. The Pride is also in port with us, so I want to be sure the four of us get our reservations in early.

Do you know how many people were on the excursion? I imagine that the number would be fairly small.

[ElvisAndretti]

[quote name='NCTribeFan']To be honest, I had wanted to do another long cruise (I was shocked that I didn't get bored to death on that Hawaii cruise - we had 9 days at sea!), but couldn't get anyone who could take off that much time from work.

It's not like I really WANT to go to Freeport and Nassau twice in 9 days! But, hey! I'll be cruising. The first leg is 5 days - Freeport, Nassau and the incredible Half Moon Cay. I'm not even a beach person, but I feel in love with this place. It'll be my sixth visit. That leg of the trip, I'll be solo, and I plan on doing next to nothing except relaxing.

If you get a chance to go there, do it! It poured rain last November, but I still loved it. Rented a clamshell and just sat under there and read all day and looked out at the ship.

Anyway, I'm going to send the code to my cruising buddy and go ahead and book the Von Humboldt. The Pride is also in port with us, so I want to be sure the four of us get our reservations in early.

Do you know how many people were on the excursion? I imagine that the number would be fairly small.[/quote]

Our sailing was not crowded at all, maybe a dozen people. It almost felt like it was just us and the crew. We never even made it to the bar we were so excited about watching everything that was going on.

I think I could do another day or two in both Freeport and Nassau, but I am very anxious to check out HMC or something like that. The excursion to Blue Lagoon was nice but too short. A scheduled stop at a private island seems like just the thing.

[NCTribeFan]

I've been to Nassau many times. I'm always amazed when people write things like "it's a dump - stay on the ship." Or about how Freeport is just an industrial port.

I cruise to get to foreign ports! Yes, there may be "nicer" ports than Nassau and Freeport, but there are still plenty of things to see and do.

If I wanted to sit and drink in an Americanized bar/restaurant, I'd go to the beach and eat at Applebees!

I love standing up on deck early in the morning and watching the cargo ships being loaded or unloaded in Freeport. I think it's fascinating.

Anyway, thanks for all your posts, photos and comments. No matter how often I cruise, I still enjoy reading reviews!

[ElvisAndretti]

[quote name='NCTribeFan']I've been to Nassau many times. I'm always amazed when people write things like "it's a dump - stay on the ship." Or about how Freeport is just an industrial port.

I cruise to get to foreign ports! Yes, there may be "nicer" ports than Nassau and Freeport, but there are still plenty of things to see and do.

If I wanted to sit and drink in an Americanized bar/restaurant, I'd go to the beach and eat at Applebees!

I love standing up on deck early in the morning and watching the cargo ships being loaded or unloaded in Freeport. I think it's fascinating.

Anyway, thanks for all your posts, photos and comments. No matter how often I cruise, I still enjoy reading reviews![/quote]

I spent a fair amount of time watching the action in Freeport as well. I also took a lot of photos of the various ships and equipment we saw in both Nassau and Freeport. I have had a life long fascination with all thing nautical and this trip really kicked that into overdrive.

I've almost got my wife convinced to move to Florida, I think I need to start working on the whole 'can we get a boat, just a little one?' thing.

We didn't really get to see much of Nassau and Freeport, the next chance we get we plan on doing some exploration. I need at least a week next time, hopefully later in the spring so it's warmer.

We're considering taking Scuba lessons between now and our next trip as well. I feel like I have discovered a whole new world.