April 2 - Ecstasy Cruise

[Mklbee]

 I really appreciate the comments on this board and decided to contribute a short review.

 

My wife and I drove to Mobile for a 5 day cruise to Costa Maya and Cozumel. We have been to both before, but as many know, Carnival has been offering great deals and we decided to take this one. The Ecstasy is a small ship. You can literally get from one end to the other in about 45 seconds or so. We stayed on the 11 deck (Verandah) which allowed us to take the stairs most of the cruise.

 

In Costa Maya we walked the entire area "window shopping" and then took the port bird tour. You feed the birds the provided bird seeds and walk across the Indiana Jones looking bridges. My wife and I enjoyed that. It took us about 45 minutes or so to complete. We ate at El Fero (the restaurant by the ocean and dolphin excursion), and the food was decent. I think I had grilled lobster the first time I ate there. This time it was not on the menu. So we settled for shrimp tacos and Chips and salsa. Had a 'yard' of Margarita that was buzz-less.🤪. I cut my wife loose to shop while I sipped on a beer and then we made the trek back to the ship.

 

Once we arrived in Cozumel, we decided to walk over to the International port next door tp Puerta Maya, the Carnival port. We walked out and turned left. A the first guard shack the guard told us the we were not allowed to walk in. My wife and I kept walking, and we walked to another entrance and we were allowed to walk into the port. Only a Disney ship was there at the time, and the port was pretty dead. We ate inside the International port at Mandys Snack Bar. I tried the Octopus Tacos and they were good. The margarita I drank had more 'octane' than the one at El Fero. My wife found nice bargain's on the inside mall area of the port, so we stayed for a while. I intended to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp, but it was closed. A little bit more shopping back in the original port. I pull up at the 3 Amigos to relax before returning to the ship.

 

On the ship, we had a decent time, but there was not a ton to do on this smaller ship really. During the trivia, there was a couple that won about 10 contests by the 3rd day. They were accused of using their cell phones during the trivia. I'm not sure if they were or not, but it was kind of funny that they wanted to win that bad. The trivia is always kind of fun to me. Doesn't seem like it would be mush fun looking up the answers. The guy running the trivia said he would be making sure folks didnt use their cell phones by the 4th day. All of a sudden, other folks started winning trivia 🤔

 

Other observations

 

Decent Pros

Took $800 to gamble and walked off the ship with $765. Really wiped out in Blackjack and Video Poker, but hit $660 on the 4th day.

Beautiful weather

Cruise director Chris was one of the best

Mobile is an easy port to get in and out of

Comedian was super funny John Wesley Austin I think is his name. Some of the corniest cowboy type jokes. I literally laughed out loud.

 

Small Cons

Itinerary was lacking a little bit. No arts and crafts, No band the last 3 days.

Carnival hub did not work for first 2 days. Caused confusion 'registering for meals' and planning the day.

Very rocky ship. Not too much of an issue for me, but if you're sensitive to boat rocking you may want motion sickness medication

No specialty restaurants. 

There are not any refrigerators on board ( I think the suites had them). So if you're platinum , your chocolate delights will melt !!😝