Review of Ecstacy Galveston

[csic]

Just returned today from Galveston on 5 day cruise on Ecstacy. First time cruisers. Took the whole family and had a blast!!!! Family of 5 with 3 teenagers ranging from 14 to 17. We booked thru a local TA. Was a little apprehensive about 5 in a cabin and possibly being seasick. Our cabin was on the Rivera deck towards the front. Had two twins placed together to make a king, two births that swing down with a bed and a extra lower bed brought in. Had no problems with room and no complaints from anybody about comfort. There beds are really really really comfortable. The food was great. Tried several different things each night. Just order what you would like to try. Ate mostly in the dining room but did eat occasionaly buffet. Liked the dining room better. Tea and Water had a different taste. We were not the only ones to notice. Discovered that a couple of lemons made the tea taste better. Saw a show every night. Muscial and Comedy shows were very good. Did not book excursions to Cozumel or Progresso. We tendered in Cozumel. Got up early but did not get off ship till about 10:30am since we did not book excursion thru CArnival. Did some shopping in town and then took taxi to Paradise beach. Next time will book an excursion before arriving. Had a lot more fun in Progresso. Ship was at port. Slept in and walked off ship about 9:30. Walked past the Carnival excursion people at the cruise terminal and there was a local guy selling tours. We bought a tour from him for $30/person which took us on a bus to a 5-star resort called the Reef Yucatan. About a 30 minute ride. Had two large fresh pools and private beach with all the drinks you wanted. Plus they had a snack area on the beach. Best guacamole I ever had. The place was great and not crowded. Highly recommend!!!!. Can't wait to book next cruise.

[GinnyJ]

Good to hear you had such a good time!!

Thank you for writing your review!

 

Can you please post your capers??

 

At the Reef Yucatan, was it $30 for everyone or were the kids cheaper?

Did they just offer snacks? Any food? What about activities....kayaks, boogie boards?

[csic]

$30 for each adult (12 and older) and I believe it was $15 for each child (11 and younger) although all my kids are older you may have to double check on the price for the kids. This price included all drinks, kayaks, one water bike, hammocks, two hugh fresh water pools in a very clean and upscale resort area. We had to take a free shuttle from the port to the end of the pier which had a little waiting area and a market area. The pier in Progresso is very very very very long. We left around 11am and the bus was full. The bus was very nice and air-conditioned. We had a guide named Carlos who told us about Progresso on the way. You can also see some flamingos (not many though) as you rode on the bus. You can take a tour through some ruins as well but everybody on our bus just wanted to go to the beach and relax. We left around 3pm and they took us back to the Cruise terminal, we didn't have to take another shuttle from town. Had to be back to the ship by 4:30 so we had plenty of time. Did a little souvenier shopping at the terminal before boarding ship. Everything was very clean. We asked Carlos about the water, but he assured us that the water was purifed. Had no problems. The same quide was also offering tour guides to the ruins alone that I think ran about $40 dollars a person. Check out the prices for the Carnival excursions-- a lot more expensive. WE were told that the food would be $10 extra but no one from our bus paid extra and we had chips, salsa, queso, quesidilas, guacomole also had hamburgers, hotdogs.

[airmanship]

My itinerary shows that we leave Progresso at 3:00pm. Is this right or has Carnival extended the times?

You said that the tour guide brought you back about 4:30?

[centralcalicruzer]

You mentioned wishing you had booked an excursion in Cozumel, did you not like Paradise Beach? That is where we are planning on going as we have heard almost all good reviews of the place (with one or two negative ones thrown in!) Just curious as to why you did not care for it. I have always heard Coz is the best place to just do your own thing.

As for Progreso, for some reason the Sat-Thurs itineraries have always listed Progreso from 9-5, while the Mon-Sat itineraries have Progreso from 7-3. I have also wondered why that is, 7:00 seems so early to get there, wondered why they couldn't dock for the same times on both itineraries. That was one of the reasons I had a hard time deciding which date to book, but ultimately decided on Aug 21 because it wouldn't take as many vacation days to get to Galveston for a Monday departure as it would for a Saturday one. Oh well, I'll just have to get my two teenage daughters up early that day!:rolleyes:

[csic]

Our iternary was 9-5 in Progresso. We arrived at port by 8:30 I believe. WE left the resort at 3pm and was back to the cruise terminal by about 3:30. Had to be back on ship by 4:30. Left Progresso a little bit after 5pm.

[csic]

Enjoyed Paradise beach but just had more fun at the resort in Progresso. I wanted to go on the Catamaran snorkel trip that left from the Paradise beach but we got there to late. WE still had fun playing at the beach and had a few drinks. STill think if I had to do it all over again I would book an excursion thru CArnival, due to the fact you have to tender , so you can get all ship quicker and enjoy Cozumel more.

[csic]

Check www.cruisecal.com on the day you are in Cozumel. If you are the only ship you wont have to tender. The day we were there. Carnival Glory had the pier and we tendered. The Glory was a big ship!!

[luvtocruise52]

We just did Paradise Beach while on the Conquest and loved it. We got an early tender and got 4 beach front lounge chairs, and mats to float on. There is a floating "iceberg" for kids to climb, other kinds of floats, kayaks, snorkeling gear (though we didn't see anything). Nice pier. All included for $8 pp - no charge if you don't use any of the equipment, but I think you're expected to buy food or drinks. I got the double stack chicken quesadillas and they were great and enough for two.

[Grannygirl21]

What day was your formal dinner and Captains Cocktail Party. Was it on Sunday night?

 

Thanks,

 

Patti