Live from Ecstasy 11-03-07

[Bassic]

Just some quick notes for all who were wanting to know how the ship is...

 

Embarkation- we got to the terminal at about 11am, the traffic wasn't TOO terrible despite the Lone Star Rally...parked the car at a secret spot, had someone drop us at the pier. Porters were waiting in line to grab our bags. We were directed upstairs where we had to wait in a line to check in. It was terribly long wait, all of 10 minutes or so! ;) But within minutes we were up the gangplank and onboard the ship. My DW immediately grabbed a drink of the day, and we headed back to the Panorama Grille.

 

No problems with departure, except that the A/C was not cooling so well at first. Now, it's cold as can be! The lifeboat drill happened at 4pm sharp, and they gathered us in our designated muster spots (ours was the back showroom), they showed us how to put on life preservers, then led us all out on deck under our lifeboats. What sucked was, we missed the sailaway, which occurred during the drill. We were already halfway out of Back Bay before we could get back inside!

 

After that, it was back to inflicting mild to moderate liver damage on ourselves! ;) :D Dinner was great, we had the table to ourselves (Windsong late seating). Our waiters were great, very punctual to seeing to our every need. Food was great. So far, so good! Making good speed as well...the fat guy with the big drum only had to whip us once! ;) :D

[*Mach*]

Just some quick notes for all who were wanting to know how the ship is...

 

Embarkation- we got to the terminal at about 11am, the traffic wasn't TOO terrible despite the Lone Star Rally...parked the car at a secret spot, had someone drop us at the pier. Porters were waiting in line to grab our bags. We were directed upstairs where we had to wait in a line to check in. It was terribly long wait, all of 10 minutes or so! ;) But within minutes we were up the gangplank and onboard the ship. My DW immediately grabbed a drink of the day, and we headed back to the Panorama Grille.

 

No problems with departure, except that the A/C was not cooling so well at first. Now, it's cold as can be! The lifeboat drill happened at 4pm sharp, and they gathered us in our designated muster spots (ours was the back showroom), they showed us how to put on life preservers, then led us all out on deck under our lifeboats. What sucked was, we missed the sailaway, which occurred during the drill. We were already halfway out of Back Bay before we could get back inside!

 

After that, it was back to inflicting mild to moderate liver damage on ourselves! ;) :D Dinner was great, we had the table to ourselves (Windsong late seating). Our waiters were great, very punctual to seeing to our every need. Food was great. So far, so good! Making good speed as well...the fat guy with the big drum only had to whip us once! ;) :D

 

Thanks so much for the live update!

 

Glad to hear that the Ecstasy is doing well, despite rumors to the contrary.

 

Grab a boat drink for me and tell the fat guy with the big drum to chill! The Azipods can do fine without you.

 

Looking forward to the next live report.

 

Mach

[Kurbanfan]

Have you been able to take your sunglasses off yet:confused: Consideriing all the neon:eek: I recall it took me awhile to ajust when I sailed her:D

[Snoozeman]

Sounds like a perfect 1st day.:)

 

I'm curious to know if the 'stuffed mushrooms' are on the five day menu. Don't miss them if they are.;)

[cruise-bunny]

bassic

Thanks for the up-date. I will be getting on when you are getting off on Thursday!:D But don't you think about that now-just enjoy!

Sandy

[connergirls]

Thanks for the live update. Have fun :D

[LambKnuckles]

Thank you for telling us about the Ecstasy! We'll be aboard in three months... wow, three months from today! There have been stories floating around about her problems. It will be nice to hear an up to date report. I will keep watching the site as I can while I travel for business this week.

 

Can you suggest a good place for a meet and greet of other roll call members for our February cruise? I've never been on the Ecstasy and would like to suggest a time and place to meet.

 

I also look forward to your tips at the ports of call. Any wonderful or interesting excursions or adventures??

 

You may not have time to read each post asking you questions until you get home. I know the internet is expensive aboard ship. But thank you for the time you have and the stoies you share. They truly do help those others of us who will travel on her in the future and have travelled on her in the past.

 

Regards, LK

[WildWillie]

Thanks so much for the live update!

 

Glad to hear that the Ecstasy is doing well, despite rumors to the contrary.

 

Grab a boat drink for me and tell the fat guy with the big drum to chill! The Azipods can do fine without you.

 

Mach

 

Hate to break it to you, but the Ecstasy has a conventional shaft - type propulsion system. The Elation & Paradise have the pods.

 

It takes 2 fat guys and drums to make her go! :D

[Bassic]

Well, the beds are certainly comfy...nice linens as well...slept well last night. We went to the Neon Bar to do the piano bar thing. Angela is very good, even did "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin- the Reader's Digest Condensed version...the rest of the ship was already shut down by 1100pm when I went out to find a place to "return my drink"...

 

As far as this cruise goes, we're not doing any excursions, we'll just get off the ship and wander.

 

The ride this morning is decidedly different from last night. There are periodic vibrations from the back of the ship, and she seems to do a little "shimmy shimmy shake" from time to time. You can tell which people are drunk and which are straight pretty easily- the straight people stagger around, the drunks all walk in straight lines! :D :D

 

More to come later...

[Stircrzy]

Have a wonderful time, Bassic!

[simplycruizen]

Thank you Bassic. Just know you are on our favorite ship and making us very envious!!:rolleyes: Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Hey. Do me a favor. We will be on the ship soon ourselves, but some friends of ours said they saw our picture hung on the wall right when you entered the ship I guess near the Pursers office. My DH was in a black tux, and I was in a black dress with silver glitter. If you just happened to be bored,....;) see if you can tell me if its still there. (If you think about it)....:p

I'm so happy for you being on our second home!! Vacation away!!

[Snoozeman]

We will be on the ship soon ourselves, but some friends of ours said they saw our picture hung on the wall right when you entered the ship I guess near the Pursers office. My DH was in a black tux, and I was in a black dress with silver glitter. If you just happened to be bored,....;) see if you can tell me if its still there. (If you think about it)....:p

I'm so happy for you being on our second home!! Vacation away!!

 

They moved IT over to the lobby bar. It's under a caption which says...DO NOT SERVE.

 

:)

[simplycruizen]

They moved IT over to the lobby bar. It's under a caption which says...DO NOT SERVE.

 

:)

__________________

Snoozeman

:D :D NO DOUBT!!! You must remember me from my other cruises!!:o

[Bassic]

OK, Cozumel was beautiful- we rented a Jeep and drove around the island. The east side is rough and gorgeous...waves reminded me of SoCal...ate lunch at Coconuts. Great folks, great food, love the animals there- two dogs, a cat, a rooster, some caged birds, an iguana, and a chameleon! The dogs were especially welcoming and sat us out by the edge of the cliff, then assumed security duty under DW's chair, keeping an eye out for stray bits of lunch that occasionally "fell" from the table ;) :D !!

 

Both coming into Cozumel, and leaving Cozumel, we were plagued by a ROUGH ride (esp. leaving!). Mucho mal-de-mer all over the ship. I am not affected, but my new bride certainly is, and she was definitely not alone! I took her outside on the port side of the ship to watch the lights on shore, and give her a frame of reference as to where the horizon was. This helped, and after we rounded Cancun, it started to smooth out. By this morning, it was glass smooth. We had wind and chop as we left, and we are still rocking and rolling, but not as bad now as it was before. Expecting some mild to moderate turbulence tomorrow with the front and all...

 

So far the crew is a real pleasure, and the ship is VERY clean. We also ate at the Le Saint Bonnet in Progreso, fabulous food, and great drinks. George, the manager, is a hoot as well.

[stellatj]

thanks for keeping us all updated

[CougarMom]

That's my OU shirt on the roof of Coconuts! The jeep thing is exactly what we did, top down and just cruizin along.

[Snoozeman]

We also ate at the Le Saint Bonnet in Progreso, fabulous food, and great drinks. George, the manager, is a hoot as well.

 

Good place--good guy.:)

 

Sorry about the weather.

[princessdivaapril]

OK, Cozumel was beautiful- we rented a Jeep and drove around the island. The east side is rough and gorgeous...waves reminded me of SoCal...ate lunch at Coconuts. Great folks, great food, love the animals there- two dogs, a cat, a rooster, some caged birds, an iguana, and a chameleon! The dogs were especially welcoming and sat us out by the edge of the cliff, then assumed security duty under DW's chair, keeping an eye out for stray bits of lunch that occasionally "fell" from the table ;) :D !!

 

Both coming into Cozumel, and leaving Cozumel, we were plagued by a ROUGH ride (esp. leaving!). Mucho mal-de-mer all over the ship. I am not affected, but my new bride certainly is, and she was definitely not alone! I took her outside on the port side of the ship to watch the lights on shore, and give her a frame of reference as to where the horizon was. This helped, and after we rounded Cancun, it started to smooth out. By this morning, it was glass smooth. We had wind and chop as we left, and we are still rocking and rolling, but not as bad now as it was before. Expecting some mild to moderate turbulence tomorrow with the front and all...

 

So far the crew is a real pleasure, and the ship is VERY clean. We also ate at the Le Saint Bonnet in Progreso, fabulous food, and great drinks. George, the manager, is a hoot as well.

We are going to Cozumel in DEcember and want to rent a jeep-how much did this cost and how long are you allowed to keep it?

[Wennfred]

Sounds like a perfect 1st day.:)

 

I'm curious to know if the 'stuffed mushrooms' are on the five day menu. Don't miss them if they are.;)

 

I hope they have them on the 4 day Elation cruise, I love stuffed mushrooms, if they do I guess I will have to have 2 orders :D

 

 

 

Fred

[Bassic]

We are going to Cozumel in DEcember and want to rent a jeep-how much did this cost and how long are you allowed to keep it?

We rented from Executive right at the Punta Langosta pier- the rate was $66/day, with the insurance and taxes, it came out to be $84.70. Add the $6.00 of gas we used, and it ended up $90.70. The Jeeps are all manual transmissions, so if you aren't used to driving a stick, they have other cars available- though you can't put the top down on those!

[LHP]

Ok...go ahead and rub it in!!!! :eek:

 

Glad you are having a great time!!! :)

[cruise-bunny]

O.K. Somebody has to do it! I am now getting in my car (at 4:30pm), driving to Houston, picking up my sisters at the airport, driving to Galveston

AND

taking Bassics place on the ship tomorrow! WOOHOO!!!!!

Sandy:D :) :D

[Grits53]

Thanks, Bassic! Glad to hear that all is well on the Ecstasy, for the most part. I'm curious about the vibration thing. Is this limited to the rear of the ship, or is it ship wide? Sorry to hear about the rough sailing but glad it was only for a day. 3 months till we board her, too! :D

 

Sandy, have a great cruise, and report in when you can!

[parrotthead]

Thanks for the "Live From"!

Sounds fun, except the rough seas, we had them coming out of Cozumel last time I went too. They say around Costa Maya it is really bad,thats why the ships have to leave port so early.

Will you give us a complete review when you get back. We are doing the 4 night in January and the 5 night in September, I want to know *everything*. What did you have for dinner. (thanks for the piano bar tip, I love piano bars, do they do sing-a-long too?) Where were the best bartenders? Have a safe trip home.

Cant wait to hear.

[Bassic]

Thanks for the "Live From"!

Sounds fun, except the rough seas, we had them coming out of Cozumel last time I went too. They say around Costa Maya it is really bad,thats why the ships have to leave port so early.

Will you give us a complete review when you get back. We are doing the 4 night in January and the 5 night in September, I want to know *everything*. What did you have for dinner. (thanks for the piano bar tip, I love piano bars, do they do sing-a-long too?) Where were the best bartenders? Have a safe trip home.

Cant wait to hear.

The best bartenders seemed to be in Chinatown, I can't remember everything we ate, the piano bar lady knows over 1000 songs, including some classical! Our drive home is only about 15 minutes or so, maybe 20 if traffic is heavy. Anxious to get home to our pets! Hope they didn't have dog and kitty parties in the house! We warned them about that! ;) :D

 

I'll do a better review once we're back home and we get some things unpacked, etc. I don't know about pics, we have some, but some didn't come out too good (alcohol does funny things to cameras!) but I'll do my best. It was a wonderful honeymoon! :)