Short Ecstasy Observation

[cuppettmd]

Hey, All; Just got back from a five day on the Ecstasy, post refurb. I was a bit apprehensive since reading so many negative reviews of the first sailing. Let me first say that I am not a complainer and I am not complaining here either. There were only two issues that I feel need attention by Carnival.(but they are significant from my point of view) If you have not sailed out of Jax recently, They have turned the parking lot around so that you are parking very near the ship. (this is a Good thing) We dropped the luggage off and parked the car, $85, and since it was about 11:00 am and we were priority boarding we were in the terminal about 10 min. tops! (security and everything) Easy! That's where we ran into our first "Issue". We no longer enter the ship on the 3rd deck like on the Fascination or the Elation and taking the elevator up to our floor, instead they have a series of ramps that you have to walk up. My wife uses a walker and I use a cane so this was "Tough"! I asked one of the terminal folks if we could use the elevator and was told no, just take our time and rest as needed. They offered to help us with a wheelchair but we "pressed onward". When sailing out of Port Canaveral on the Liberty they use ramps as well, but their lounge starts higher up so that you only have to walk up two decks. In Jax you have to walk up five decks! Tired just thinking about it.

The next issue presented itself immediately upon entering the ship. I have sailed many times and have always enjoyed reading reviews by fellow cruisers. Many times folks have complained about "The Smell" I've always considered this a myth such as "Big Foot" and other mythical things, but there it was! I don't call it a sewage smell, but it is very "Funky"! It seemed strongest around the Atrium, but it was always there. Because I'm aware that this is not a normal occurrence, I just chose to believe that Carnival was aware of the problem and would address it in due time. If I was a first time cruiser, this would be a real turn off to cruising!

Everything else on the Ecstasy was pretty good. The ship is getting old but the crew was keeping it very clean. The food was good and there was always things to do. The crew was top notch, and made the trip very enjoyable. Another thing that I forgot to mention in my "Not Complaining, Just Mentioning" is that this is the first cruise that the water on the Lido deck was terrible! The water in the MDR was good, so I don't get it. I figured that the water came from the same tanks. I had bottled water so this was no big deal. They have changed a lot of things. Some good such as the seating in the MDR where it seemed you were assigned to a table instead of a station. We had "Anytime Dining". Some not so good, such as using the "Afternoon Tea" to promote art work.

We enjoyed our cruise on the Ecstasy very much, and are looking forward to our Jan. cruise on her again! I think that Carnival will keep getting Ecstasy better and better with each cruise! Mikey.

[elklemi]

Thank you for your observations, I will be on the Ecstasy in January and your info will help in planning.  I plan on parking at the port and am priority also and wonder how early you are allowed into the parking lot if you have any info on that. 

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for posting.

[cuppettmd]

2 hours ago, elklemi said:

Thank you for your observations, I will be on the Ecstasy in January and your info will help in planning.  I plan on parking at the port and am priority also and wonder how early you are allowed into the parking lot if you have any info on that. 

Jax usually opens the parking lot about 10:30

[Scfilla]

Thank you for your “observations” 😁. 
What level did you disembark from?

Thanks again!

[indygirl76]

Yeah, those embarkation ramps are not for the (literal or figurative) faint of heart. 

[Scfilla]

2 hours ago, indygirl76 said:

Yeah, those embarkation ramps are not for the (literal or figurative) faint of heart. 

I enjoyed your November Live report. 
What level did you get off then?
Our room this upcoming trip is on seven so the ramps won’t be fun but we’ll ditch our stuff right away. FTTF.

Thank you!

[dlphn501]

17 hours ago, Scfilla said:

I enjoyed your November Live report. 
What level did you get off then?
Our room this upcoming trip is on seven so the ramps won’t be fun but we’ll ditch our stuff right away. FTTF.

Thank you!

Ecstasy embarks and disembarks from deck 7, Empress deck.  The best deck to have on a fantasy class ship IMO.  Enjoy your cruise 🙂

[mz-s]

11 minutes ago, dlphn501 said:

Ecstasy embarks and disembarks from deck 7, Empress deck.  The best deck to have on a fantasy class ship IMO.  Enjoy your cruise 🙂

 

Yep, every time we've cruised the Fantasy class we book our room on deck 7 if we can at all help it.

[thesmiths]

I have to surprise my wife with a cruise on her.

 

We sailed the Ecstasy May of  93 for our honeymoon.

 

 

[Scfilla]

5 hours ago, dlphn501 said:

Ecstasy embarks and disembarks from deck 7, Empress deck.  The best deck to have on a fantasy class ship IMO.  Enjoy your cruise 🙂

Awesome!

Thanks for the info.

[Bollycats]

I was on the Ecstasy in November and I had read about the embarkation ramp, but thought "eh". And then I got there. Wow, it was STEEP! I'm in relatively good shape, but even I was huffing and puffing when I got to the top! If anyone has ANY kind of trouble walking you need to ask for help. 

[indygirl76]

On 1/13/2020 at 9:17 PM, Scfilla said:

I enjoyed your November Live report. 
What level did you get off then?
Our room this upcoming trip is on seven so the ramps won’t be fun but we’ll ditch our stuff right away. FTTF.

Thank you!

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, embark and debark are on 7/Empress.

[indygirl76]

5 hours ago, Bollycats said:

I was on the Ecstasy in November and I had read about the embarkation ramp, but thought "eh". And then I got there. Wow, it was STEEP! I'm in relatively good shape, but even I was huffing and puffing when I got to the top! If anyone has ANY kind of trouble walking you need to ask for help. 

SAME.

[Capt_Sailormike]

We sailed on her in March of 2019 for the Band of OZ beach music cruise. This was my first cruise and our honeymoon. The ship is defiantly older but the captain and crew were extremely nice captain gave wife and I a personal tour of the bridge as I am a merchant mariner. the ship was clean and kept up as good as could be expected. The food was tasty and Jess from the US CD was awesome. The only complaints were and we didnt know all the details was our room wasn't ready even with faster to the fun. That ramp is no joke good thing the bar was at the top lol.  Our room was an interior deck seven just steps away from atrium we enjoyed every minute of the cruise except when they thought our band had gone over time and kept shutting their power off