Carnival Ecstasy Bermuda Cruise-May 12, 2016

[onegroundcafe]

Sorry, i started a new job and had to train someone to do my old job, that has taken up a lot of my time. However the transition is complete so I plan to work on the review this weekend and hopefully finish it for you!

[flyingtocruise]

Sorry, i started a new job and had to train someone to do my old job, that has taken up a lot of my time. However the transition is complete so I plan to work on the review this weekend and hopefully finish it for you!

Thank you. Really enjoying what you have posted and looking forward to this weekend.

[onegroundcafe]

Embarkation Day-Muster Drill to Bedtime

Ecstasy had the longest muster we have ever had on a ship. We were in the group that mustered outdoors. Every other group was indoors and then had to be walked up to their lifeboats. This took forever, luckily it was warm not hot outside.

After muster we went to meet a group from our roll call but not that many showed up so we went back to the room to get ready to hit the spa raffle.

We always go the spa raffle because we like to purchase the manager's special, they also are fun as most people have to dance when they win a prize.

I liked the set-up of the gym and spa on this ship.

This was the most toned down spa raffle we had been to. I had gotten a mani/pedi before we boarded so we did not purchase the manager's special.

By now the casino was open so DH went there and DD and I went to explore the ship.

I liked the Rolls Royce on the Promenade.

After we explored a bit we met back up to attend the free liquor tasting held outside the fun shops.

They did not have the Sheridan that we like to try but they did have a new type fireball drink to try.

Carnival in past months has changed its policy from delivering liquor the night before debarkation to now having the guests come pick it up at 6:30 am the morning of debarkation. That has stopped us from purchasing as the lines can be very long.

After the tasting we headed for anytime dining in the Windstar dining room.

 

After seeing many pictures of the Chicken a la Grecque I decided to order it, it was yummy! DH got the flat iron and DD got chicken tenders and french fries.

 

We had planned on going to the piano bar with Eden but I was too tired so DD and I headed for bed and DH headed to the casino.

 

Day Two-A Fun Day at Sea coming up!

[JimAOk1945]

Going back to the original topic . . . :D

 

I am enjoying your review of your Carnival Ecstasy cruise to Bermuda. Your pictures and descriptions are great. I hope you will come back and finish. We had the pleasure of sailing on the Ecstasy twice and enjoyed ourselves both times.

Edited June 11, 2016 by JimAOk1945

[onegroundcafe]

Day Two-A Fun Day at Sea

In the mornings on land I usually run so while on vacation I still wake up early and head to the jogging track. When I headed up to the track it was empty and the temperature was great, it was easily the best run I have had on a ship.

While I was running I got to watch some people mini-golf and keep up with their games.

After my run I headed back to the room to get DD for Seaday brunch, a cruise tradition. I LOVE sea-day brunch, perhaps because I do not like breakfast foods so it gives me a chance to eat lunch at 9 in the morning. Whenever I see people eating breakfast on Lido on Sea Days I feel bad, why get lukewarm food when you can have yummy brunch?!

As we entered Sea Day Brunch we ran into Janette who remembered us from our Breeze cruise in November, she gave us hugs and made DD feel so special.

Before we went to brunch DD made us stop in the Lido so she could get chocolate muffins to take there...so she had chocolate muffins and cereal and hot chocolate...if you haven't had the hot chocolate on Carnival you are missing out! I got flaming tomatoes soup and the salmon entree. (see lunch for breakfast?)

After breakfast DD and I headed to Camp Ocean (aka Camp Carnival) to register DD, she was registered on-line. The attendant made us take a phone which we haven't had to do since she was under five. The worker stated since there were so few kids on the ship (20 total-a normal low is 100) that she wanted us to have a phone in case DD wanted to leave camp.

DD and I went back to the room and got changed to hang out by the pool and waterworks. There was never a line for the slide and DD liked that a lot.

After swimming/reading we went back to wake up DH and go to lunch.

After lunch DD went to Camp Ocean, DH went to the casino and I went to read. We met up for dinner since it was elegant night. We first went to the taste bar to try the steakhouse taste.

DH got the prime rib and lobster for his meal and he was happy and I got the redfish and it was great.

We then went to see Kim Ford in the comedy club. We love the comedy club on ships because who doesn't love to laugh...however she spent most of her set making fun of herself in terrible terms...I prefer comedians who interact with the audience. I left feeling sad because she seemed sad.

After the show DH went to the casino and I went to Guest Services. Before the cruise I had registered us for the Chef's Table for DH's birthday and our email confirmation stated we would be contacted once on board with time and place. This is what happened last Chef's Table. However since this was a gift and DH's birthday was the next day I wanted to make sure we were on the list.

The lady at guest services stated they did not have a Chef's Table list yet but that Chef's Table would be held the three nights we were in Bermuda, I thought that was kinda sad because I wanted to come and go as I pleased in Bermuda not have to rush back to the ship for dinner, but it is what it is.

I went to pick up DD and she wanted to go to the Lido for hot chocolate and then we headed to bed.

[onegroundcafe]

Day Three-A Fun Day at Sea and DH's Birthday

I woke up and went for a run on the track, it was more crowded today with walkers, it is always hard as a runner to dodge walkers on the track but it adds distance so it works out okay.

I went around the ship and took pictures for this review and then went to get DH chocolate covered peanuts for his birthday from the Fun Shops....it think it is now called Cherry on Top?

Then I went back to the room to get DD and she went to the Fun Shops and bought him a coffee mug. Something nice that Carnival is doing for birthday's now...a 50.00 gift card to the spa and a 20.00 gift card to the photo shops.

DH woke up and we sang Happy Birthday and gave him his gifts. He wanted to go to Sea Day Brunch with us so we headed to Lido for chocolate muffins and then went to Brunch.

He got the Steak and Eggs (one of my favorites-who can resist filet mignon at 9 am?) DD got fried eggs and I got the pork chop (not very good).

Today we were very lame and just did our normal-Camp Ocean, reading, casino.

DH and I did go to dinner and on our way we saw Chef's Table going on in the library. I had a moment of panic but remembered the lady at guest services stated there were three chef's tables on this trip.

They sang Happy Birthday to DH and we remembered that his first cruise and first time out of the country was on his birthday with me.

DD and I hung out for a bit and then went to get DH from the casino for Mexican night.

My favorite food types are Asian and Mexican and I LOVE the Mexican fiesta night on the ships (however with the advent of Blue Iguana this is going away) luckily our ship still had it.

I had the lovely tacos and chips with cheese sauce and a myriad of salsa....it was an awesome ending to a terribly stressful day lol.

Tomorrow we would finally be in Bermuda and we had been told by the cruise director that time had moved forward one hour.

[onegroundcafe]

Bermuda-Day One!

After spending three days to go 700 miles we were finally in Bermuda. I am a big huge researcher when it comes to ports but for Bermuda there was not a lot of information and the information that was available kept changing because we were going to early in the season. Originally the tourism board made it so that multiple day tickets for buses/ferries were not available at the Dockyard, but the week before we left this was changed.

We also learned that Sundays and Tuesdays are not good days to tour Bermuda, which we were in Bermuda Sunday-Tuesday so a lot of my research had to be changed.

Our plan for the day was to go to Church, and then Gibb's Lighthouse, Horseshoe Bay Beach, and then hang out around Dockyard. However the hour time change made us a little late so we ended up missing church.

Bermuda is, as everyone says...beautiful, and organized! Many islands we have visited are on "island time" but with Bermuda this is not the case, if a bus is to arrive at 7:30, it comes at 7:30.

We got off the ship and headed to the VIC to purchase a two day pass for Bermuda, this allows for unlimited access to busses and ferries. They also give you a ferry schedule-no service to St. George on Sunday, and a bus schedule. There is a little train that takes you around the dockyard for that so we hopped on and took it to the bus stop for the number 7 bus outside the museum.

We got on the bus and told the driver we wanted to go to Gibb's Lighthouse and we were off. About 30 minutes later he dropped us off a block from the lighthouse and we walked uphill until we reached the destination.

We purchased tickets, I think it was 2.00 per person to climb the 185 steps to the top of the lighthouse, you could see much of Bermuda from the top and it was neat to learn the history of the island on the way up...but it is a winding spiral staircase so I would only recommend it for those in good health.

If you could tell the shopkeeper how many steps there were she would give a free gift to our DD so we headed to the shop and DD got her gift (a bookmark) and we headed to the bus stop to catch the bus for Horseshoe Bay Beach.

I was getting worried about timing because the busses run on an abbreviated schedule on Sunday and I wanted to make sure we could enjoy the beach and get back in time...it would be a VERY expensive taxi ride back if we missed the bus (taxis charge more on Sunday).

The bus finally came and we headed for the pink sand beach.

Horseshoe Bay

DH was complaining about his legs and I was worried because I had read online about the hill to get back up from Horseshoe Bay but we went anyway, it was a least downhill going to the beach :)

The sky was overcast when we arrived and it did begin to sprinkle, we saw the sign about Man-of-War in the water and so I was apprehensive. After the sprinkles ended DD went into the water (far too cold for me) and I climbed the rocks to see what I could see. The water was so beautiful and the surf gentle. I would love to return one day for more time.

I felt rushed due to the bus schedule and so we left about one hour after we got there, we are all fair skinned so we usually only stay at a beach for 1.5 hours to two hours.

DH paid the 2.00 per person to take the car up the hill and we got the world's shortest guided tour. We were dropped at the bus stop and waited for our bus. There were no vendors trying to sell us anything, just such a peaceful time!

The bus came and we were back to the ship.

[onegroundcafe]

Once back at the ship I noticed I had screwed up on the time and we could have spent another hour on the beach (almost missing the ship....literally by two minutes in Cozumel has made me paranoid).

DD went to Camp Ocean and DH and I got off and walked to the Frog and Onion pub (the trolley was shut down for the day). The Frog and Onion pub had amazing reviews on-line so I was excited to go...it was just okay...the more livelier place (at least when we were there) was the Bonefish Grill (not the chain). As we were walking back we passed a pirate ship (Calico Jack's) that advertised the option to walk the plank into the ocean...one day...one day...

We got back on the ship and went to dinner in the MDR. DH got a free bottle of wine from the Casino.

That night we all went to bed early due to the early morning we would have the next day.

[onegroundcafe]

Bermuda Day Two-St. George or Bust!

Today we were going to St. George, the options to get there are taking the public bus (2 hours from Dockyard), very expensive taxi, or take the ferry. The ferry to St. George begins at 9:00 am and the next one to leave was 11:00 am. So we all got up early and got off the ship by 8:30 to get in line for the ferry.

Everything is very well marked in Bermuda so the ferry and line was easy to find. They began boarding around 8:55 am and boy was this ferry NICE! Padded seats, seats with tables, air conditioning, bathrooms...it was awesome. The ride over to St. George's was about 45 minutes. While on the ship a lady advertised a walking tour with her, but I had the walking tour printed off from on-line so we went our own way.

As we rounded the corner someone was offering a free tour of the museum so we attended that and learned so much about the history of Bermuda, it was really interesting...I suggest doing that if you can. We walked down the cobblestone streets and window shopped and bought perfume while DH tried to find Wi-Fi. During this time we ran into the town crier.

We used our walking tour and visited the Deliverance ship

We also visited the unfinished cathedral, the Tucker house, featherbed alley, St. Peter's Church, and then headed back to King's Square for the ducking.

Around 12:30 they have a ducking in St. George's, a historical and hysterical re-enactment of what the townsfolk of St. George do to a town gossip.

After that we went to lunch at the White Horse Tavern and helped ourselves to a pitcher of the famous "Rum Swizzle" (I found out I do not like bitters) then we shopped and hung out until the ferry went back.

We got a table on the ferry and watched the beautiful island of Bermuda go by.

Our plan was to go to Hamilton but my family said no, they were tired.

We got back to the room and looked at the fun times and noticed it was cruise elegant night, which we thought was odd since it was a port night and not near the end of the cruise so we dressed up to go to dinner...

[onegroundcafe]

When we got to dinner we realized only half of the MDR was in formalist wear...it was confusing but no big deal. After dinner we all went our own ways and I stopped by guest services once more about the chef's table.

I normally don't visit guest services at all during a cruise, but this was a birthday present for DH, and I can't not get him a present...and another lady states she can't find our reservation. One a regular ship this is all handled in the steakhouse, but the Ecstasy does not have a steakhouse. I explained that I had email confirmation from Santosh the guy in charge of the MDC that we had reservations. She had me wait as she called him. While I was waiting some guest came up and literally started screaming at her about the typo in the fun times about elegant night, she handled it with such grace I was impressed.

She told me that Santosh would be calling me in our room about the whole Chef's table thing.

I headed back to our room and was informed that we were on a waiting list, I explained that we had an email confirming our spots and they made room for us on the last chef's table...the last night of the cruise.

That night they had Carnival Quest-an adult game show/scavenger hunt that usually is a ton of fun...but with the odd demographics of this ship we decided to skip it this time.

After some hot chocolate we headed to bed.

[onegroundcafe]

Day Three-Bermuda

Originally I had planned to use this day as a day to tour Hamilton, but then found out we would be leaving at 11:30 am. We got up, had breakfast, and I wanted to go to the Dockyard but my family was done touring. We stayed on the ship and did our usual.

As it became time for dinner DH decided he wanted us to get pictures taken (gift card) so we had a lot of fun posing with different backdrops. We went to dinner and were going to see a comedy show....when it was announced the comedians missed the ship.

The entertainment staff had to scramble to find things to fill the void.

We went to bed and prepared for our last day on the ship :(

[onegroundcafe]

Wednesday-Sea Day

Another Sea Day...I woke up early to run and headed up to the jogging track and found it was WAY to windy to run up there, I am used to running on ships...but this one took the cake, so I gave up and headed for the dreadmills.

Running on those proved challenging as the seas were rough.

Tonight was chef's table so I knew I couldn't eat like a chubbster...but it was SEA DAY BRUNCH!!!!

DD and I went to brunch and I got my tomato soup and salmon and she got cereal and 1,000 chocolate muffins.

She then went to Camp Ocean-which she loved because she got A TON of one-on-one attention, in fact for this cruise they only used one room for Camp Ocean and kept all the kids together.

I went to read but found out it was raining out...I was so happy I had read outside the day before. So I read inside.

During the day they mentioned about the rough seas and having to slow down, having read on-line that seas were generally rough I didn't think to much about it.

DH woke up and we headed back to sea day brunch to redeem our free drink coupons. DD and DH went to the arcade to help spend her Platinum arcade card

but there were not many games so it was not as fun as other Carnival arcades.

Next up we had the past guest party...I told DH she would probably get the youngest platinum on this cruise based on the demographics. She was excited. The party was held in the comedy club and the same drinks were circled around...but the only food was sushi..which we LOVE but we had to save our appetites.

The time came for the awards ceremony....and for some reason they did not do the youngest platinum (they had done it our two previous ships) but she did get a plaque for having the most correct on the guess the insignia game. When she went up there they did acknowledge her age and made her feel special...gotta get them engrained for Carnival lol!

We dropped her off at Camp Ocean and we headed for Chef's Table.

[onegroundcafe]

Chef's Table

Chef's Table began at 6:30 and met in the lobby outside of Guest Services. There was a designated seating area and we were met with champagne. We then got to go to the galley and took a tour, watched warm chocolate melting cake being made, and ate four appetizers.

Then we headed to the library for the rest of the meal. At this point the ship was rocking and the bags were out by the elevators but the meal distracted us from that. We met great people and ate great food and learned about the behind the scenes of food on Carnival, since we both have worked in restaurants this is very interesting to us.

I would HIGHLY recommend Chef's Table to anyone, we look forward to this when we take our cruises and we are excited about the new menu rolling out soon.

We picked up DD from Camp Ocean and headed to bed.

[onegroundcafe]

We knew we could sleep in on debarkation day because it was announced due to the weather and having to slow down we would be delayed four hours getting into Charleston.

We live close so this was not an issue for us, for those with flights....an issue.

I felt bad for the crew because they REALLY had no turn around time. Due to the hour we got in we were able to eat breakfast and lunch on the ship.

The staff seemed very stressed out during debarkation, and I am sure that being late factored into that.

We had no issues getting off the ship...other than having to get off the ship. While we were getting off the ship we called our shuttle and she was there waiting after we got through customs. It was a very interesting cruise.

 

Notes-We are used to twice a day service...I had read on-line that this was going away, sure enough our room steward greeted us with a note pad that asked us to choose either AM or PM there was not a BOTH option, she explained we would have to choose either AM or PM...and after I waited a bit she reluctantly offered the "both" option

 

Elevators-I was a little nervous about them, after all this is the ship that had the accident with the elevators...I had read that they were wonky...and they were. Sometimes the doors would open before you were even on a floor. I took the stairs as much as possible.

 

Bermuda-can't wait to go back!

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my review!

[jbhcw]

Good review...we've sailed to Bermuda twice...once on the Pride and last year on the Splendor...and would go back again!

 

Interesting about the cabin service...we just got off the Elation last week and had service twice a day....our cabin steward never even asked us if we wanted service once or twice a day.

 

Even though the Fantasy class ships are old...I love sailing on them...hmmm...thinking Bermuda again next year:)

[NJsharon]

Thanks for the review! Booked for Ecstasy next April, excited to see what upgrades are being done in January.

 

That is downright scary about the elevators though, that would totally freak me out!

 

Will book the Chef's Table for DH as he will love that. I don't eat a lot, so would be wasted on me (and don't drink alcohol either). But I know he will love that!