Royal Loyal-Carnival help please!

[zanydoc]

Hi! It’s been a minute since we’ve been on Carnival and very excited to be going on Ecstasy during her last hurrah in 2 days. It’s been fun being on the Carnival boards and seeing all the different usernames, but a lot of the same issues we tend to have on the Royal boards, Lol! Can you please help me with a couple of questions? Dress code...Are nice shorts, jeans and nice flip flops allowed in the dining room in the evenings? It is on Royal although I know some frown upon this. My husband just wants to be comfortable, but we don’t want to break any rules. I know this kind of question rends to start a shi..storm on the Royal forum, but I was hoping you guys would be more chill.  Also, any advice about the best place to get an old fashioned and a grey goose cosmo on Ecstasy would be greatly appreciated! TIA! 

[FiredogCruiser]

As a long time CCL cruiser, recent observations would suggest that 'dress codes' are seldom observed, and never enforced.

[mz-s]

There are no dress code rules on Carnival anymore, except in the steakhouse. That's the only place they enforce them. The Ecstasy doesn't have a steakhouse.

 

Any bar on Ecstasy can make an old fashioned or grey goose cosmo.

[RoperDK]

I think that shorts and clean shirt along with sandals are quite acceptable nowadays.  It is what it is.  My husband has dressed down over time from dockers, polos and loafers to nice golf shorts, polos, and sneakers.  No problem so far, even though I would prefer long pants.  A grey goose cosmo is my go to drink and they are available at any bar.  Enjoy!

[GalaxyJane]

While any bar *may* be able to make an old-fashioned, in my experience the only place to get a *good* one is at the Alchemy.  A lot of the other bartenders are pretty vague on the concept and kind of guess at the details.  I had one in the lobby bar on the Vista that included a 1 1/2 inch thick muddle of sliced oranges and cherries at the bottom and whatever bourbon and bitters that might have hidden in it were drowned by the soda they filled the rest of the glass with. Saddest waste of Woodford I've ever seen.
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You can't really blame them, each bar tends to specialize at least a bit based on what their customers drink a lot of.

[zanydoc]

Thank you all for your replies, Looks like the Alchemy bar is where the action is! Any other Ecstasy advice out there? 

[MeganGC1983]

25 minutes ago, zanydoc said:

Thank you all for your replies, Looks like the Alchemy bar is where the action is! Any other Ecstasy advice out there? 

We sailed Ecstasy in June. Seafood Shack is good. Buffet is not. MDR is good. sea day brunch is a little lengthy, but great steak and eggs! Don’t judge all Carnival cruises by this one. It’s one of the oldest ships. The piano bar is excellent, fun, and great service. Definitely go to Alchemy. Tell DJ Skoot that Megan said HI! Hope you have a great time! 

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, zanydoc said:

Thank you all for your replies, Looks like the Alchemy bar is where the action is! Any other Ecstasy advice out there? 

For future advice, sail on the Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral, the Celebration out of Miami starting in November and the Jubilee out of Galveston starting in November of 2023.  These are the three Excel Class ships that are the closest thing that Carnival has to the newer builds of Royal.  If you're travelling without kids, the three Vista Class ships (Vista, Horizon, Panorama) have an area called Havana which you need to be 12+ to stay in,  so no unruly kids.

[zanydoc]

8 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

We sailed Ecstasy in June. Seafood Shack is good. Buffet is not. MDR is good. sea day brunch is a little lengthy, but great steak and eggs! Don’t judge all Carnival cruises by this one. It’s one of the oldest ships. The piano bar is excellent, fun, and great service. Definitely go to Alchemy. Tell DJ Skoot that Megan said HI! Hope you have a great time! 

I will! I read your recent review-it was very helpful and entertaining! I’m going on this ship because it’s so close to me and worked out for a last minute weekend getaway. Your review actually is what decided me! For being a Florida resident, I unfortunately live about as far away from any Florida port as possible...so Alabama it is 😁. 

[ninjacat123]

Serenity is great to chill but a little small so grab a chair early.  Great bar service there with very hard working servers, Made and I Putu.  Please say Hi from Bethany for me.  Yes, another vote for Alchemy!  Have a great cruise!

[mdsgu]

Alchemy tends to be the best bar on any Carnival ship.  Excited that Ecstasy has one!

[MeganGC1983]

2 hours ago, zanydoc said:

I will! I read your recent review-it was very helpful and entertaining! I’m going on this ship because it’s so close to me and worked out for a last minute weekend getaway. Your review actually is what decided me! For being a Florida resident, I unfortunately live about as far away from any Florida port as possible...so Alabama it is 😁. 

Well good deal! Thanks for reading and have a great time! 

[DrSea]

Ecstasy is the oldest CCL ship. There may be a lot of issues with the ship, like leaking ceilings, etc. So just know that going in and adjust your expectations, as I am sure you got a good deal sailing on the Ecstasy.

 

Agreed with trying newer CCL ships if you are coming over from RCL. 

[mz-s]

19 hours ago, zanydoc said:

Thank you all for your replies, Looks like the Alchemy bar is where the action is! Any other Ecstasy advice out there? 

 

She is a relic of a bygone era of cruising but you will have a great time. She's one of the oldest cruise ships afloat right now so temper any expectations you may have. We've been on newer ships but my wife and I often get off a cruise and say "we had a great time but we'd just as soon have been on Ecstasy"

[DrSea]

16 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

She is a relic of a bygone era of cruising but you will have a great time. She's one of the oldest cruise ships afloat right now so temper any expectations you may have. We've been on newer ships but my wife and I often get off a cruise and say "we had a great time but we'd just as soon have been on Ecstasy"

lol your signature is funny. 

 

Does that mean that you have only sailed with CCL?

[mz-s]

6 minutes ago, DrSea said:

lol your signature is funny. 

 

Does that mean that you have only sailed with CCL?

 

So far yes, only Carnival, but have a Disney cruise coming up in October. For the longest time we didn't want to fly and Carnival's port in Charleston was an easy, affordable way for us to cruise and we loved the product so had no need to venture out to try other lines.

[DrSea]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

So far yes, only Carnival, but have a Disney cruise coming up in October. For the longest time we didn't want to fly and Carnival's port in Charleston was an easy, affordable way for us to cruise and we loved the product so had no need to venture out to try other lines.

Enjoy DCL. Let us know how it goes. 

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

So far yes, only Carnival, but have a Disney cruise coming up in October. For the longest time we didn't want to fly and Carnival's port in Charleston was an easy, affordable way for us to cruise and we loved the product so had no need to venture out to try other lines.

Have got to ask.  I can see why you wish to save money and drive as many Carnival cruisers do.  But why decide to make your first non Carnival cruise on Disney, which will cost you three times as much?  NCL, RCI or MSC would have been substantially cheaper options.

[mz-s]

9 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Have got to ask.  I can see why you wish to save money and drive as many Carnival cruisers do.  But why decide to make your first non Carnival cruise on Disney, which will cost you three times as much?  NCL, RCI or MSC would have been substantially cheaper options.

 

When we decided we wanted to fly to our next cruise, that opened up options to pretty much whatever we want to do and my wife went to Disney last year with her best friend and wanted to try a Disney cruise. We got a great deal on a Halloween cruise on Disney Dream in a veranda room. Yes it's more than Carnival but it's not three times as much. A 5-day Carnival cruise on a newer ship in a balcony might be $1200-1500 for two. For Disney we're paying $1900. Obviously many of us on here can get offers for really cheap cruises (my last cruise on Carnival was $20 plus port charges), I'm going by what the average new cruiser would pay.

[CruizinSusan70]

58 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

When we decided we wanted to fly to our next cruise, that opened up options to pretty much whatever we want to do and my wife went to Disney last year with her best friend and wanted to try a Disney cruise. We got a great deal on a Halloween cruise on Disney Dream in a veranda room. Yes it's more than Carnival but it's not three times as much. A 5-day Carnival cruise on a newer ship in a balcony might be $1200-1500 for two. For Disney we're paying $1900. Obviously many of us on here can get offers for really cheap cruises (my last cruise on Carnival was $20 plus port charges), I'm going by what the average new cruiser would pay.

There is no such animal in the Carnival fleet as a newer ship doing 5 day cruises.  The newest is the Breeze, which is 10 years old and embarks from Galveston, which is one of many drive to ports, which is where the majority of the 5 day cruises on Carnival embark from.  The Freedom goes out of PC, but it's 15 years old and the Sunrise out of Miami is 23 years old if you're looking for cheaper fly to options.

 

Enjoy your cruise on Disney.  Here's a link to Parodeejay's first Disney cruise from YouTube.

 

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

There is no such animal in the Carnival fleet as a newer ship doing 5 day cruises.  The newest is the Breeze, which is 10 years old and embarks from Galveston, which is one of many drive to ports, which is where the majority of the 5 day cruises on Carnival embark from.  The Freedom goes out of PC, but it's 15 years old and the Sunrise out of Miami is 23 years old if you're looking for cheaper fly to options.

 

Enjoy your cruise on Disney.  Here's a link to Parodeejay's first Disney cruise from YouTube.

 

 

Yes it's true an exact comparison isn't possible, but my point was I didn't pay 3x as much as I would have paid for a Carnival cruise that is as similar as I can make it. Thank you for the video, we are excited!