Ecstasy 4/8 Trip Report

[natvtxn]

:) Ecstasy 4/8 Review:)

We parked in the Ezcruise parking. A couple that lives about 20 minutes from us (Spring, TX), was in line behind us so we joined up with them. The shuttles were filling up pretty quickly, but there was a gate that we could go through to walk to the dock. After crossing several rr tracks, we got to the ship. It took about 45 minutes to arrive at the dock, go through all the “stuff” and be on the boat. Since there were no people getting off the boat, we were able to go straight to our room U-100). It was about 1:00 PM at this time. We went to lunch, toured around and waited to leave. It was after 6:00 before we left.

Sunday morning we shared the breakfast table with a couple from Iowa. They told us there were about 30 people waiting on a shuttle at George Bush International Airport to take them to Galveston. That is why we left late. (A good thing they were waiting on a CARNIVAL shuttle).

We had an interior room. It was probably 98% brand new. The only noticeable thing that was not new was the toilet seat! The bed was very comfortable. DD asked for and received different pillows. She is not fond of feather pillows. There was plenty of storage in the room. In fact, we had some storage areas that we did not even use (and dd is 21!).

The food was good. I didn’t expect more than what it was. Our new friends we met in the parking lot had their reservation moved to our table and the other couple was from San Diego. Daniel, from Czech republic was our headwaiter. Joselito from Philippines was the assistant. They were both so good at their job and enjoyable to talk to. Of course had lobster one night (formal) and ordered steaks a few times off the menu. Dd didn’t want any of the desserts a couple of nights, so she asked for a children’s dessert menu. She was told there wasn’t one, so she ordered a brownie with ice cream, chocolate, and nuts. Assuming we would get pecans or walnuts. They were pistachio! It actually tasted good, tho. We did not eat in the dining room after the day in Cozumel. The food in the Panorama Grill was always good and satisfying.

The tendering in to Cozumel was very smooth. The boats held perhaps 200 people. It was a quick 5-7 minute ride to the shore. Since we had an excursion scheduled, we had an earlier departure than those that did not.

In Cozumel we did the Beach, Snorkel and Beer cruise on a catamaran…aka…the booze cruise! Margaritas and Superior beer in unlimited supply was offered. First we snorkeled for about 30 minutes. It was not the snorkeling I’ve seen in the Caribbean before, but still not surprised by that because of Wilma. We then went to a beach (somewhere on the west side). There were horses to ride (not sure if they charged for that or not), floats to use (free), $8 hamburgers (Angus beef), volleyball, soccer, and maybe another thing or two. We did see a very large iguana (?) running around. You could definitely see results of Wilma in the brush. But, the beach was in good shape.

In Progreso we decided to just beach it and shop a bit. The ship docks at a pier, so getting off was very easy. A shuttle picks you up at the boat (where there is some shopping available) and takes you just into Progreso. The beach is right there. We shopped in the craft market and walked around a bit before going to the beach. $2 Sol was a better price than on the ship! Ate some nachos that were very tasty and just hung there for a while. Headed back to the ship before the lines got too long.

After getting back on the ship, we waited around to leave. They announced that the wind was too strong to leave at the appointed 5PM. No big deal, though, because we were having fun! The boat finally left about 3:15AM. It was rumored that we were stuck and had to wait for high tide, the bottom was leaking, a storm was headed in our direction and the wind. Not sure what the truth was, but it bought us some extra time on the ship! Now, that DID affect quite a few people that had noon flights out of Hobby. (They did get off the ship first, tho).

We finally on the 3rd day met our room steward. I asked him a bunch of questions about while the ship was in NO. He said it was mostly policemen on the Ecstasy. The crew did their regular job while in NO. Our ice bucket was always filled, chocolates on the bed at night along with a towel elephant, towel dog, towel lobster and one more that I cannot remember right now.

I set up my Sprint cell phone to work in Mexico. I’m the main account holder, so I got a $4 package. That made my phone calls 50 cents each minute. Dd’s phone was $1 a minute (guess which one we mostly used?). At first I was having difficulty calling out simply because I forgot to ask HOW to call out. So, if you want to call out while in Mexico, dial 001, area code, number. A few times I had to dial it twice. Reception and clarity was great while in port.

I’m kind of brain dead at this point, but I will add more.

The ONLY complaint I had was that the toilets (all of them) seem to not put enough water in them to only need to be flushed once. It took quite a few times. I would pour water in from the sink. Oh, there was a bowl in the bathroom with some toiletries in it. Razor (men), razor (women), Tylenol PM, mouthwash, and a few others that I can’t remember right now. There was NO hair dryer in the “regular” rooms, however, we went to the suite that our friends from San Diego had and it had a hairdryer, but she said it wasn’t really strong.

I will post more later.

natvtxn

[Snoozeman]

Thanks, sounds like it went very smooth for 1st time out!!:)

[SandyToes1978]

sounds like you all had a really good time, and even got some extra time on the ship! do you have any pictures? So, the refurb looked good. I'm sure you are pretty tired by now, so post more when you can, and thanks, we've been waiting ALL day:D

[sherrintxs]

Thanks for the review.

 

Glad to hear you can have your Sprint phone working in Mexico, wish I would have known that April 6th...lol