5-day Ecstasy trip to Bahamas! 2 thumbs up!

[dmtiern]

Quickie review (sorry no pics) -

Cast of characters: Myself53 4th cruise, DD19 3rd cruise, DD22 3rd cruise & DDBF22 3rd cruise . We had 2 Oceanviews R84 & R88. We live in St Cloud FL so it's an easy drive to Pt Canaveral.

 

Parked at Park n Cruise 1700 Sea Ray Dr Merritt Island, FL 32953 Phone Number 321-454-2500 for the 1st time, only $3.99 & tax per night - great savings over parking at Port Canaveral! (google to get this rate!) Easy shuttle, tipped driver $5 for 4 bags, then tipped port worker $5.

 

Arrived at 11:35 - thru security & sail card & directly onto ship by 12:05.

Went to Lido & had some fresh fruit then went around exploring the ship. ALL of our previous cruises were Carnival Sensation, fantasy-class sister ship, also out of Port Canaveral, so we felt right at home. Liked Ecstasy decor better, lol!

 

Rooms were ready at 1:30 & 2 of our luggage arrived. The other 2 (of course the ones w/RR's inside) were late to arrive. Had me biting my fingernails for a few, but by 5pm they also arrived, all intact & RR's safe & sound (1st time, will do this again! Got 'em at Dollar Tree, thanks to someone here:))

 

Your time Dinner in dining room, had spring rolls, fish & WMC - all delish! Tried hot-tub on Serenity, nice but not hot enough, oh well. Crashed & slept like a baby!

 

Next day Freeport & Swim with the Dolphins, booked thru Carnival cuz I am a chicken, lol. Awesome!

 

Dinner had stuffed mushrooms, fish again, skipped dessert!

 

Next day was Nassau where DD19 & I shopped til we dropped. Got a bottle Old Nassau Dark Rum $9 (thanks to CC peeps!) D22 & DDBF22 hung out at Senor Frogs.

 

Dinner was salad & indian vegetarian (dang that meal is good, even though I didn't know exactly what I was eating!) skipped dessert again.

 

Next day was Half Moon Cay - our 1st time there. We rented Cabana #11, will do this again. Our cabana was in a great location, restrooms right behind us. The lunch served there was really good too - I had jerk chicken, salad & rum cake. We stayed as long as we could, the line to board the tender was long but moved fast.

 

Dinner that night was pasta something & fish again, skipped dessert but later went to Lido & sampled a few desserts. Most were pretty dang good!

 

Day at sea was spent resting, visiting shops, got a bottle duty-free Smirnoff $13, We each got a complimentary drink coupon to be used in the dining room at breakfast or lunch, so we went to the dining room for lunch - got a Miami Vice (yum!) and for lunch ordered just spring roll app., then went to Lido & got the deli turkey wrap.

 

Sadly our cruise came to an end - we did self-assist & debarked around 9:15 am, long security line but moved fast, found our Park n Cruise shuttle area, waited under a tent-thing for about 15 minutes, then were shuttled back to our car, easy-peasy!

 

Some highlights:

Had an awesome cabin steward IDA

 

Great servers GERMAN, DVMITRY, & JOSE

 

Coffee was good - I brought an insulated mug & discovered 1/2 cup soft serve vanilla, topped off w/coffee was an awesome beverage. So good I didn't even purchase my usual coffee from the cafe.

 

We ordered room-service breakfast every morning, excellent! Coffee, bagels, fruit & always delivered right on time!

 

We missed the shows but did see the adult comedy - very enjoyable. Also watched the love & marriage show where a young man was brought to the stage along w/his GF - he proposed on bended knee (awwhhh!) very sweet to watch:)

 

Played a trivia game or 2, DD19 wanted to win a ship-on-a-stick but it was not to be...

 

Was a nice vacation & we are already looking to book again - would sail Ecstasy again in a minute!

[Captain Carnival]

Thanks!!!

[wrigley80]

Thanks for sharing....sounds like you had a Fun time

[stlrboo]

NICE!!!:D Looking for a short trip, and this one may just 'fill the bill'!:D:p:D

Thanks for the review... :cool:

[Frank12]

Thanks. Good to hear. We are on her again in December!:)

[RuthlessBoss]

Thanks. Good to hear. We are on her again in December!:)

Me too, but Dec 7:D 4th cruise on her.

I always use park n cruise, but never saw that rate, but always was reasonable.

[dmtiern]

When I first booked it was $7.99, found it for $3.99 so I called & they told me they had no way of cancelling my 1st reservation but to just re-book at the lower rate & print the confirmation:)

 

Confirmation Code: 9N28J28

Date parking vehicle: 09/28/2013

Date picking up vehicle: 10/03/2013

Advertised Daily Rate: $7.99

 

Confirmation Code: 9N63A28

Date parking vehicle: 09/28/2013

Date picking up vehicle: 10/03/2013

Advertised Daily Rate: $3.99

 

They honored the lower rate no problem!

[Georgiagolfer]

NICE!!!:D Looking for a short trip, and this one may just 'fill the bill'!:D:p:D

Thanks for the review... :cool:

 

If looking for a short trip on CCL, try the Fascination out of Jacksonville. DW and I have sailed her 4 times and she is our favorite Fantasy Class ship.:D Fascination does 2 5 day cruises (Mon-Sat) or (Sat-Thur) and 1 4 day cruise.

[dmtiern]

Ty:)

[FloridaMomma]

Great review! Thanks for sharing your trip!

[stlrboo]

If looking for a short trip on CCL, try the Fascination out of Jacksonville. DW and I have sailed her 4 times and she is our favorite Fantasy Class ship.:D Fascination does 2 5 day cruises (Mon-Sat) or (Sat-Thur) and 1 4 day cruise.

Thanx.. I'll check that out!:) Have never departed from Jacksonville...:rolleyes:;)

[Georgiagolfer]

Thanx.. I'll check that out!:) Have never departed from Jacksonville...:rolleyes:;)

 

Jacksonville is such an easy port to sail from. Walk on/of ship, no gangway. Don't arrive prior to 10 am as they won't allow vehicles in to the area until this time.

[Gemynii]

Thanks for the review!