Carnival Ecstasy 8/3/16-8/8/16

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

To start off, my name is Gamecock_Cruiser, and I'm ADDICTED to cruising. My head still feels like i'm on the ship. I have taken more motion sickness medication since I got home yesterday than I had to on board (LOL). I had to run to Wal Mart yesterday after getting home, and I pulled the Sail and Sign card out of my pocket that was still in there from debarkation yesterday.

 

Before leaving for this cruise, we were worried about Hurricane/Tropical storm Hermaine and where she would go and when. Luckily, she cleared the area the day before our embarkation.

 

Let me start off with the port of Charleston. I see a lot of complaints about it, but I LOVE cruising from Charleston. They do not let you enter the parking areas until the previous cruise passengers have cleared out. That means that once you access the terminal, you are normally allowed to board. Once inside the terminal, we were on board within 20 minutes. The only downfall is that they load you on a bus and take you to ther terminal, and you have to wait until the bus is full before they take you. Debarkation is silent, which I personally think seems to flow better than normal debarkation over the loud speakers. We were off the ship and in our car that we walked to within 20 minutes.

 

I was very concerned about the staggered check in time and I was also on the fence about purchasing FTTF, which I ended up deciding not to. At the terminal, our check in time, which was 11:30-12pm, was never checked. I think this may be because they didn't open the parking lot until around 12 due to the previous cruise being late returning to Charleston. Once we got inside the terminal, we were on board within 20 minutes. FTTF would have been a waste here. The few times that I went to guest services, there was no line to two people in line at a time, so FTTF would have been a waste here. We waited to get off at Half Moon Cay at 11am, so there was no line here and we were able to go directly to the tender. During debarkation, we were able to walk right off with no lines at all. FTTF may be worth it on larger ships or terminals, but I don't think I will worry about purchasing it again for the smaller ships.

 

..... More details to come later.... stay tuned! Please feel free to ask any questions!

[easyboy]

Following your review.

[pntnnc]

D you know..... We were wondering am not driving in..being dropped off by shuttle. Have fttf mainly to get in to our room as we carry on our stuff. We like to be unpacked and start our vacation. Do you still have to wait until the cars come out from previous cruise or can you be dropped off at the tent area before that? Thanks for any info

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

D you know..... We were wondering am not driving in..being dropped off by shuttle. Have fttf mainly to get in to our room as we carry on our stuff. We like to be unpacked and start our vacation. Do you still have to wait until the cars come out from previous cruise or can you be dropped off at the tent area before that? Thanks for any info

 

Im not 100% sure here. I know that the terminal isn't opened until the other cruise has debarked too because it's so small. I think they let someone drop you off, but you have to wait until everyone has came through for the previous cruise.

[Seago2]

Glad you had a good experience with Charleston!

[BoDidly]

Looking forward to your review.

[dlvance]

We are 21 days away from sailing out of Charleston. Thank you for the review! You've answered several questions already. Looking forward to the rest of the review.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

Our room number was E129, which I shared with my cousin. It is located right next to the elavator next to the Art Gallery on the Empress deck. I was a little concerned since that was our firs time being bnext to the elevators and so close to the atrium on the Empress deck, but that wasn't an issue, especially since we normally stayed up until the entertainment was over. The room itself is a standard OV room. The only major downfall is that it didn't really get cool enough for our likings. Our friends on the even numbers had the same issue. We heard several other complain about this. Carnival has those big thick comfy comforters, but it needs to be about 65 degrees before I can use it. I slept with just the sheet since it was so warm.

 

Our room steward was Rigo. We boarded the went to our room to drop the carry on off. The bed was still a king. We found our room steward and asked hm about two twins that we requested. he told us that he would take care of it after 3pm, which was fine with us. We gave us the card to mark what services we wanted. My cousin not knowing only marked evening. Next time, we will mark both, but will tip to make it worth it for the steward. he forgot to leave wash cloths one day. One day, we got a knock on the door and it was Rigo. I was randomly choosen for a $50 spa gift card, but we were having so much fun, I forgot to use it.

 

We had YTD. We requested late, but didn't get it. John Heald asked me told me to let him know a few days ahead and he would put in the request for us. I didn't. I wish I would have now. The first night, we had to wait 30 minutes for a four top. Formal night, I went and got a buzzer at 7pm while my cousin was showering, because I knew we would have a wait. At 8:30, our buzzer still hadn't gone off. I went up there and asked and they said they already paged our buzzer. I called my cousin and he came up. The matri'd tested it and of course we ended up with the broke one. I like set dining better. The service is more consistant and it is a unique experience that I have never got to experience anywhere else. The food was really good in the dining room.

 

We ate the seaday bruch the first seaday. We all were really impressed with the food. It was a lot better than the typical lido breakfast.

 

We ate the lido for lunch, dinner two nights (didn't want to take so long in the dining room), and for our late night snacks. Some things were great, some were okay, and some were terrible. But that is the good thing about a buffet, you can get whatever you want and try it.

 

We purchased the cheers for this cruise for the first time. We pre-purchased it to save $$$. I drink mostly Patron Margarita's. I visited the coffee shop each morning and got bottle water for the dinner table. Technically, I broke even, but that is it. I like to have some drinks while on vacation, but I don't consider myself to be a big drinker. I never got over half way to my limit. The good thing is that it helps you budget if you drink your moneys worth or more. We found a bartender the first day and started tipping a $1 per drink. She was hooking us up after that!

 

We attended a few events on board. One was the contry music trivia in the grand atirum. That was a blast. Benjamin, the cruise director, really made it entertaining singing and line dancing for us (the guy can sing). We also attended the 80's music trivia along with the showcase of the stars. Both of those were excellent.

 

Broken Taillights is the house band. They played every night but one. They were great! I really enjoy the phillipino cover bands, but I haven't saw them on the last few cruises.

 

On our past four cruises, our CD didn't really mae or break the cruise. I must say that Benjamin was by far the best that we have encountered yet! He kept us informed and enteriained the entire cruise.

 

Our port of calls were Half Moon Cay and Nassu. At HMC, we just lounged in the ocean for a few hours. We headed back on the boat about 12:30 to take advantage of the Mongolian Wok, pool, and water slide (big kids at heart). Nassu was.... well... just Nassu. We just walked through the Strar Market to get a few of the typical souviners and walked to Senior Frogs for watched for a little while. We headed back to the ship after about two hours. We are gong to head to the Atlantis, but it looked like we were goingto get hit by a storm. Once we got on the boat, the storm was gone. So we just stayed on board.

 

We had great weather for the cruise with one late night shower the first sea day night and one shower the last sea day. Leaving Nassu that afternoon to head back to Charleston, the boat was rocking a little. After our evening fun and going to bed, the Captain came over the intercom at 2:44am saying "Emergency, man overboard, man overboard!". This is not something that you want to wake to from a sound sleep. Once we realize what was going on, we though our clothes on and went out. Everyone in the hall way looked like they were in shock like us. The captain came on and told us that there was a report that someone went overboard. We later learned that she jumped. The ship kept circling the area and we had a life boat down searching too. The coast guard cleared us to leave around 9am.

 

The last sea day was a rocky one. Benjamin told us that we may be up to an hour late, but the captain was goign to try to make up time. They had the ship going 21-22kts the entire way back. We ended up arriving at dock Charleston on time.

 

We learned Friday that the coast guard suspended their search for the missign lady Thursday night. I just want keep the family in our continued prayers that they find the closure that they need.

 

I have to say that we had a great time that we hated to see come to an end! The first part to solving a problem is admitting that you have a problem. My name is Gamecock_Cruiser, and I am ADDICTED to cruising! Happy sailings and Bon Voyage until we cruise again.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions!

[grandmarnnurse]

I thought I was the only one that felt motion sick (as if the ground is rocking) on the day after I arrive home after a cruise! Lol!! I cruised the Ecstasy many years ago, before the upgrades, sometime in late 90s. I hope you enjoyed your cruise! I, too, am a cruise addict! [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

I thought I was the only one that felt motion sick (as if the ground is rocking) on the day after I arrive home after a cruise! Lol!! I cruised the Ecstasy many years ago, before the upgrades, sometime in late 90s. I hope you enjoyed your cruise! I, too, am a cruise addict! [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

You are not. I had to google it to make sure I wasn't going crazy. No one else that I crised with felt like that. I take bonnie when I get home for about two days and then I'm okay.

[riclop]

To start off, my name is Gamecock_Cruiser, and I'm ADDICTED to cruising. My head still feels like i'm on the ship. I have taken more motion sickness medication since I got home yesterday than I had to on board (LOL). I had to run to Wal Mart yesterday after getting home, and I pulled the Sail and Sign card out of my pocket that was still in there from debarkation yesterday.

 

Before leaving for this cruise, we were worried about Hurricane/Tropical storm Hermaine and where she would go and when. Luckily, she cleared the area the day before our embarkation.

 

Let me start off with the port of Charleston. I see a lot of complaints about it, but I LOVE cruising from Charleston. They do not let you enter the parking areas until the previous cruise passengers have cleared out. That means that once you access the terminal, you are normally allowed to board. Once inside the terminal, we were on board within 20 minutes. The only downfall is that they load you on a bus and take you to ther terminal, and you have to wait until the bus is full before they take you. Debarkation is silent, which I personally think seems to flow better than normal debarkation over the loud speakers. We were off the ship and in our car that we walked to within 20 minutes.

 

I was very concerned about the staggered check in time and I was also on the fence about purchasing FTTF, which I ended up deciding not to. At the terminal, our check in time, which was 11:30-12pm, was never checked. I think this may be because they didn't open the parking lot until around 12 due to the previous cruise being late returning to Charleston. Once we got inside the terminal, we were on board within 20 minutes. FTTF would have been a waste here. The few times that I went to guest services, there was no line to two people in line at a time, so FTTF would have been a waste here. We waited to get off at Half Moon Cay at 11am, so there was no line here and we were able to go directly to the tender. During debarkation, we were able to walk right off with no lines at all. FTTF may be worth it on larger ships or terminals, but I don't think I will worry about purchasing it again for the smaller ships.

 

..... More details to come later.... stay tuned! Please feel free to ask any questions!

Yes you are right FTTF is a waste of $$$$ which is now $70-80.RIDICULOUS!!!

[maldenmusic]

I also have that moving feeling for at least a day after cruising.

[easyboy]

I have to say that we had a great time that we hated to see come to an end! The first part to solving a problem is admitting that you have a problem. My name is Gamecock_Cruiser, and I am ADDICTED to cruising! Happy sailings and Bon Voyage until we cruise again.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions!

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for the review.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

One issue that I forgot to mention was that the rooms were warmer than my liking. We weren't the only one with this issue. Carnival puts those big comfy bedspreads on, but it it kind of hard to use them when it is 75ish in the room. I slept with just the sheet every night.