Carnival Ecstasy 2/4/17-2/9/17 Brief thoughts

[mz-s]

Was the ship smokey to you? A few recent reviews have mentioned that.

 

I am an ex-smoker so I may be a little more accustomed to the smell of smoke than others. I didn't notice the smell of smoke as being any worse than my cruise last year.

[Orlandorandall]

At the beginning of the cruise a lot of the decks smelled faintly smiley. Even the hallway by our cabin for some reason. I guess I either got use to it or the smell faded because I didn't notice it as much by the end. Also I hated that almost Half of panorama deck above the pool was dedicated to smokers. It pretty much took away one enitre side of the ship to watch the kids in the pool because it was always full of smokers. :(

[Boston Mom]

Thanks for your review - reading this thread with interest because it is our first cruise on Carnival, and our first time cruising out of Charleston. You just convinced me to find a hotel where we can leave the car during our cruise, and just cab or Uber it over to the port. Disorganized parking mess doesn't sound like the most relaxing way to start a vacation!

[teknoge3k]

Thanks for your review - reading this thread with interest because it is our first cruise on Carnival, and our first time cruising out of Charleston. You just convinced me to find a hotel where we can leave the car during our cruise, and just cab or Uber it over to the port. Disorganized parking mess doesn't sound like the most relaxing way to start a vacation!

 

We stayed at the Mainstay Suites in Mt. Pleasant. It was around $110/ni I believe for a 2 bedroom hotel room with kitchen. Very nice place, great location. It was across the bridge. I highly recommend this place. We were able to leave our car there for the week for free. An Uber cost us around $12 to get to port.

 

We had FTTF and got to port around 10:30'ish and were on lido by 11:15.

[Thrilled2012]

Thank you for your review! Does this ship have waterworks? Thanks in advance :)

[Melissalcsw]

 

We had FTTF and got to port around 10:30'ish and were on lido by 11:15.

 

 

That's great to hear we got FTTF also.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mz-s]

Thank you for your review! Does this ship have waterworks? Thanks in advance :)

 

It does, but I didn't visit it so I'm not sure if any changes were made during drydock.

[pntnnc]

Did they update the tv technology in the room as far as menus and onboard account thru the tv? I like being able to look up that stuff in the room instead of going to dining room to see.

[mz-s]

Did they update the tv technology in the room as far as menus and onboard account thru the tv? I like being able to look up that stuff in the room instead of going to dining room to see.

 

Nope, same TVs and same channels as always.

[cjspicer01]

Did they add blow dryers in the cabins during the update?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mz-s]

Did they add blow dryers in the cabins during the update?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Sadly no, still need your own blow dryer unless you are in a suite. Only the suites have blow dryers and fridges on the Ecstasy.

[Dave0311]

You're skipping all the unorganized mess if you get dropped off. It's parking and traffic control that makes the Charleston port so maddening in my opinion. Since you're not parking you don't need to worry about that. The terminal is much more efficient.

 

When I say port I mean the parking, luggage drop off, and traffic control areas of the port complex. When I say terminal I mean the actual terminal building - where you go through security, check in, get your sail and sign card, and walk onto the ship.

 

If we lived farther away and needed to come in the day before we would also do a park and ride with an area hotel. We live less than 4 hours away though so we just save the hotel money and spend it elsewhere on the trip.

 

Sounds good! :D Was there staggered check-in? My cruise is PIF but I don't have an option to choose a check-in time. I've heard both that Charleston does and does not have staggered check-in yet, so I'm unsure!

[Rachel16]

Not really interested in writing a full multi-post review with photos (I didn't really take any of the ship anyway), but instead I'll just write my thoughts as someone who has cruised out of Charleston, and on the Ecstasy, several times.

 

Embarkation: Probably worse than it was last year. One employee said to go here, the other said no you need to turn around and go here, it's disorganized chaos until you get into the terminal where things are better. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing because there's a new staff at the port for basically every cruise. This is one of those things you just have to grin and bear as a Charleston cruiser. It likely won't improve until the port authority has a reason to improve it. Staggered checkin doesn't appear to have made any difference. The terminal employees, being Carnival/permanent port authority employees, are better and have a good system in place. It's the parking and traffic teams that need serious work, and the same holds true now as it did when we first cruised out of Charleston almost 3 years ago.

 

Ship cleanliness: I was on the Ecstasy in May of last year, when she was relatively new to Charleston after years of weekend booze cruises out of Miami. Toilets routinely broke, at least 25% of the elevators were always out of service, A/C in the cabin was busted, rust and weird smells/stains everywhere. None of this is true now. The ship is now as beautiful as ever. Clean, clear, in good repair. Of course this makes sense as she was just released from dry dock a few weeks ago. We'll have to see how the cleanliness is maintained as she gets farther from dry dock.

 

Cabin service: Never met the steward, but they did do a very good job of keeping the cabin clean. Both services were done every day with no issue. I think the steward stopped by once in an attempt to meet us on the third day, but we were still in bed so we just asked them to come by later.

 

Food: I said last year after we left the Ecstasy that other than entertainment, the food was the best part of the cruise. The food continues to be a high mark on the Ecstasy. The dining room was consistently hot, fresh, and perfectly cooked. This is my first experience with American Table and I was left impressed. The food was excellent and the dining room looked awesome. Service was slow one night but we brought it to their attention and it was quickly corrected. Lido food was also excellent - including the new additions of Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana. If I tried I couldn't think of an improvement to be made in this area. My only complaint is hamburgers, chili, and fries are no longer served during the late night snack buffet - replaced with grilled ham and cheese, potato chips, and grilled onions. Not a big deal, but I do love Carnival's chili.

 

Entertainment: My Ecstasy cruise last year left a high bar here. I found the shows (albeit the same shows: Brits and Motor City) to be better than last time with better talent, but the promenade band wasn't quite as good as last year. The piano bar player was okay, and the solo guitarist was somewhat bad. The Fun Squad was good. The cruise director, Benjamin, was just as he was last year which is to say he made the ship rock. Full of energy, gets people excited and loose, and all in all makes everything fun.

 

Bar Service: I have heard complaints of some people having trouble finding a bar waiter in the lounge on other ships. Not so on the Ecstasy. The bar waiters were constantly making their rounds, and kept you full on drinks if you needed them. The bar waiters in the bars were also excellent. The new Alchemy bar is a great addition to the ship.

 

Overall, I had a fantastic time and everyone we sailed with also had a great time. I have very few complaints and none of them would cause me to not book another cruise out of Charleston on the Ecstasy.

 

I was hoping that you would post your experience. Thank Goodness you have.

 

MUCH appreciated.

[Rachel16]

I forgot to ask the following:

 

What time to you suggest arriving at the port.

We purchased the Fast to the Fun thingie , I noticed you arrived around 1030am and were on the Lido around 11-1115am. What time do the line start to move folks to allow them on the ship? Would you please give a brief parking daily cost and ease (or not) of parking at Pier.

 

And last but not least how were the seas????;) Was the water warm enough to enjoy it in Nassau and Half Moon Cay?

Thanks again for taking your time to answer the questions. I am go glad you had a great time. Gotta check out their chili :D

[teknoge3k]

I forgot to ask the following:

 

What time to you suggest arriving at the port.

We purchased the Fast to the Fun thingie , I noticed you arrived around 1030am and were on the Lido around 11-1115am. What time do the line start to move folks to allow them on the ship? Would you please give a brief parking daily cost and ease (or not) of parking at Pier.

 

And last but not least how were the seas????;) Was the water warm enough to enjoy it in Nassau and Half Moon Cay?

Thanks again for taking your time to answer the questions. I am go glad you had a great time. Gotta check out their chili :D

 

We were able to get a hotel room in Mt. P and leave our car for free there and Uber to port cheaper than it was to leave our car in port for a week. Just an FYI. :) - I know you weren't asking me and that was for the OP, but wanted to share our experience.

[IvesGrandmama]

My five sisters were on this sailing. The Super Bowl party was great even though our team didn't win. I went to dining room to ask if we could have chocolate melting cake, they were happy to fix them for me. Happy surprise when I got back to the game for my sisters. Dining room staff wonderful. Christian and his wife were superb. What can I say about the casino. Wonderful. My sisters and I stayed late most nights. We may have been loud but we had fun fun fun. Learned how to pay three card poker. Slots and roulette were very good to us. Overall it was great.

[mz-s]

Sounds good! :D Was there staggered check-in? My cruise is PIF but I don't have an option to choose a check-in time. I've heard both that Charleston does and does not have staggered check-in yet, so I'm unsure!

 

I forgot to ask the following:

 

What time to you suggest arriving at the port.

We purchased the Fast to the Fun thingie , I noticed you arrived around 1030am and were on the Lido around 11-1115am. What time do the line start to move folks to allow them on the ship? Would you please give a brief parking daily cost and ease (or not) of parking at Pier.

 

And last but not least how were the seas????;) Was the water warm enough to enjoy it in Nassau and Half Moon Cay?

Thanks again for taking your time to answer the questions. I am go glad you had a great time. Gotta check out their chili :D

 

There is staggered check-in in Charleston. I am unsure how stringently it is enforced, however.

 

They typically start allowing people to begin parking and enter the terminal around 11:30. The parking line dies down after 12:30, and the line inside the terminal dies down around 1:30. If you want to have the lowest wait possible, choose a check-in time around 1:30 or later. Before then, they're hustling to get all the folks with earlier checkin times on the ship.

 

Parking at the terminal is super easy. You park in covered, locked and patrolled warehouses and are shuttled to the terminal door. On the way back home, you get back into shuttles and they drop you off inside the terminal. Couldn't be easier. I think it's $17/day? Handicap placard holders park free, and since my wife is recovering from a broken ankle we had a handicap placard so I am not 100% sure on parking rates.

 

Doing a hotel drop-off is also easy. When you get back, the shuttles for airport/hotel are waiting for you at the terminal.

 

Faster to the fun bypasses all lines - parking lines, security lines, check-in lines, and guest services lines. It's definitely possible that with FTTF, you'd go from sitting in your car to sitting on Lido inside 30 minutes.

 

Don't get FTTF if you are interested about priority tendering to HMC - none of the tenders were full. We were on the first tender to the island. For cutting lines in the terminal though, it is worth it. Probably worth it for cutting lines at guest services too if you ever need to visit. There was usually a line of folks 3-4 deep on our cruise.

 

The ship was rocking on the first night. A lot of first time cruisers mentioned they were seasick, and I met a few people who said they were too sick to eat dinner. I got a little seasick, but not bad.

 

The water was cool in Nassau and HMC but was easy to adjust to and I didn't have any problems. It's nothing like the water at Myrtle Beach in February, that's for sure!

 

The chili is now available at the deli in the back of the Lido restaurant since it isn't on the buffet anymore. You'll love it! I look forward to it and the potato salad every cruise!

[misfit72ford]

We were able to get a hotel room in Mt. P and leave our car for free there and Uber to port cheaper than it was to leave our car in port for a week. Just an FYI. :) - I know you weren't asking me and that was for the OP, but wanted to share our experience.

Where did you stay? We are thinking about coming in the night before if possible. Thanks.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

[teknoge3k]

Where did you stay? We are thinking about coming in the night before if possible. Thanks.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

 

We stayed at Mainstay Suites in Mt. P., just at the end of the bridge. Very convenient. (Across from the light going to Patriots Point). We had a 2 bedroom suite with a pull out couch as well, perfect for my family of 4. It also had a kitchen as well. We paid $115/ni for it but I did just check and notice it's gone up a little. For what we had is now $163/ni. (It HAS been almost a year)

 

They allow you to leave your car there for the duration of your cruise and it's in a great, safe location. Uber I believe was $15 for us to get to the port.

 

Charleston parking is $17/day so you'd be looking at $119 just for parking on a 7 day cruise.

[Rachel16]

We were able to get a hotel room in Mt. P and leave our car for free there and Uber to port cheaper than it was to leave our car in port for a week. Just an FYI. :) - I know you weren't asking me and that was for the OP, but wanted to share our experience.

 

:p Silly MEEEE,,,thank you for your experience also.

[jsglow]

Question for you experienced Ecstasy cruisers. We've never done a Fantasy class ship before as you can note from my signature. But it does seem that the Ecstasy has had some real money spent on her in a rebirth following her booze cruise days.

 

Here's the question. She's doing a couple of Journey cruises (one in November '17 and especially one in November '18) that might have interest for us. Now we're not one's to have to be on the latest and greatest ships and we're not typically into having all the latest toys (no interest whatsoever in big RCCL ships) but having a properly refurbished 25 year old ship in excellent condition would be important. I sense that might have happened here. I'd be interested in any and all comments for those who have sailed both Fantasy and Conquest class boats. Everything from cabins to her overall condition. I can already tell that they've added all the bells and whistles possible.

[crazy.cruzer]

Not really interested in writing a full multi-post review with photos (I didn't really take any of the ship anyway), but instead I'll just write my thoughts as someone who has cruised out of Charleston, and on the Ecstasy, several times.

 

Embarkation: Probably worse than it was last year. One employee said to go here, the other said no you need to turn around and go here, it's disorganized chaos until you get into the terminal where things are better. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing because there's a new staff at the port for basically every cruise. This is one of those things you just have to grin and bear as a Charleston cruiser. It likely won't improve until the port authority has a reason to improve it. Staggered checkin doesn't appear to have made any difference. The terminal employees, being Carnival/permanent port authority employees, are better and have a good system in place. It's the parking and traffic teams that need serious work, and the same holds true now as it did when we first cruised out of Charleston almost 3 years ago.

 

Ship cleanliness: I was on the Ecstasy in May of last year, when she was relatively new to Charleston after years of weekend booze cruises out of Miami. Toilets routinely broke, at least 25% of the elevators were always out of service, A/C in the cabin was busted, rust and weird smells/stains everywhere. None of this is true now. The ship is now as beautiful as ever. Clean, clear, in good repair. Of course this makes sense as she was just released from dry dock a few weeks ago. We'll have to see how the cleanliness is maintained as she gets farther from dry dock.

 

Cabin service: Never met the steward, but they did do a very good job of keeping the cabin clean. Both services were done every day with no issue. I think the steward stopped by once in an attempt to meet us on the third day, but we were still in bed so we just asked them to come by later.

 

Food: I said last year after we left the Ecstasy that other than entertainment, the food was the best part of the cruise. The food continues to be a high mark on the Ecstasy. The dining room was consistently hot, fresh, and perfectly cooked. This is my first experience with American Table and I was left impressed. The food was excellent and the dining room looked awesome. Service was slow one night but we brought it to their attention and it was quickly corrected. Lido food was also excellent - including the new additions of Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana. If I tried I couldn't think of an improvement to be made in this area. My only complaint is hamburgers, chili, and fries are no longer served during the late night snack buffet - replaced with grilled ham and cheese, potato chips, and grilled onions. Not a big deal, but I do love Carnival's chili.

 

Entertainment: My Ecstasy cruise last year left a high bar here. I found the shows (albeit the same shows: Brits and Motor City) to be better than last time with better talent, but the promenade band wasn't quite as good as last year. The piano bar player was okay, and the solo guitarist was somewhat bad. The Fun Squad was good. The cruise director, Benjamin, was just as he was last year which is to say he made the ship rock. Full of energy, gets people excited and loose, and all in all makes everything fun.

 

Bar Service: I have heard complaints of some people having trouble finding a bar waiter in the lounge on other ships. Not so on the Ecstasy. The bar waiters were constantly making their rounds, and kept you full on drinks if you needed them. The bar waiters in the bars were also excellent. The new Alchemy bar is a great addition to the ship.

 

Overall, I had a fantastic time and everyone we sailed with also had a great time. I have very few complaints and none of them would cause me to not book another cruise out of Charleston on the Ecstasy.

 

Thanks for the review-MUCH APPRECIATED!!! We will board her March 5....and I can't wait!

[crazy.cruzer]

Hello fellow cruiser! We also just returned from the same cruise as you! We had a great time barring some issues that arose throughout the vacation and I thought I would share.

 

1. We booked adjoining rooms. It took them until after dinner the first night to open the connection. We were traveling with or three kids (one of which was extremely anxious about being on a ship) so we were a bit upset it took multiple attempts at lettting our steward know we needed it opened.

 

2. The first sea day we spent arguing with guest services and our room steward because our shower was backing up and flooding the rest of the restroom, so bad we had to create a dam with towels so it wouldn't come out of the bathroom. It took them all day to fix this with us having to spend our day going to guest services to get them to do it.

 

3. Guest services never answered the phone for us. We had to go to to the desk if we needed anything.

 

4. This was the same with room service. We tried two nights to order and had to sit on the phone for 10+ min and they still never answered so we gave up.

 

5. We spent one of our sea days at brunch which the service was horrible. It took 20min to get water and take our order. 30min in they offered us break and 1hr in we got our food. Food was great.

 

6. Coming back from half moon Cay we returned to no hot water on the entire ship and our halls on our deck flooded. Carpet was soaking wet. Apparently there was some sort of issue and they had to turn the hot water off so we all had to take cold showers when we returned from port. Not to mention the smell from the wet carpet.

 

All in all though we had a great time and the kids enjoyed it so much.

 

Good to know- thank you for sharing! Would you mind sharing your cabin floor and if it was front, mid or aft??

[EricasTJ]

Biggest things I noticed other than the additions of Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana, and Alchemy is a lot of the colorful mosaic tile work on the ship (most notably on Lido around the pool) has been replaced with solid colors. The pool is now nonslip blue vinyl rather than ceramic tile. I suppose it is not only easier to keep clean, it's also easier to repair if a leak develops.

 

Speaking of the pool area, it also appears as though they removed the fake palm trees. They were there when we cruised on the Ecstasy last October, but it appears as though they're gone when I look at the deck webcams now. Sort of a bummer - they gave it a tropical feel, even though they were fake. :(

[mz-s]

Speaking of the pool area, it also appears as though they removed the fake palm trees. They were there when we cruised on the Ecstasy last October, but it appears as though they're gone when I look at the deck webcams now. Sort of a bummer - they gave it a tropical feel, even though they were fake. :(

 

Yes, the fake trees are gone. The lido pool area is now a lot different. The separator/bench in the pool is gone, and they've added a shower station. It's a lot more like a hotel pool area than a tropical/cruise ship pool area now.

 

There are still 2 hot tubs, but one of them lost the canopy as well.