First Cruise Review--Ecstasy--Aug 8-13

[sailingawaysoon]

Can't wait to finish reading your review. You have a lovely family. Hurry w/the errands!

[sun'n'water]

We are going on the Ecstasy 08/31/09 for 5 days. Don't have a Ecstasy Caper, but do have a Carnival Fantasy from our 07/06/09 five day Fantasy cruise to the same ports.

 

Here is the link http://www.texaspepper.net/Cruise.htm

 

You'll see the Capers link.

 

Thanks for the link to the Caper! I'm so excited - the 31st can't get here quick enough!!

[LorrieB]

I need to learn my lesson that I shouldn't start reading any reviews that are not at least a couple weeks old. This way I don't have to worry about waiting. I HATE TO WAIT!!!!!!! Where are you? We are going to be on the Ecstacy February 2010 with our adult children. We are so excited!!!!!!

[MacysMimi]

I need to learn my lesson that I shouldn't start reading any reviews that are not at least a couple weeks old. This way I don't have to worry about waiting. I HATE TO WAIT!!!!!!! Where are you? We are going to be on the Ecstacy February 2010 with our adult children. We are so excited!!!!!!

 

I was so laughing when I read this..... I hate to wait too! I'm so pumped about this cruise I'm driving everyone in my family nuts! My birthday was yesterday and my dtr and dtr in law went all out with the tropical theme! We had palm trees and coconut bras everywhere! :eek: I think they wish it was already over....

 

Sharon

[mrsbean1990]

Cool pics! We were along side of you in the Fantasy at Progresso and Cozumel. Maybe we waved to each other. :D

 

I had an urge to start, "We've got spirit, yes we do...we've got spirit how 'bout you!?" across the pier, but my kids would have died of embarrassment. :p

[Baileysmom]

Jessica

It was so nice to meet in person...Bailey had a great time with Jasmine and keeps asking to call her....Clay and I were disappointed as was my mother....Seems it was not anything like the others we all had been on before but the most important this is that Bailey did have a great time and keeps saying it was the best time of her life. Loved your review...Its neat seeing it through the eyes of someone else....Glad to have met you and lets keep in touch...Maybe we can go with you next May.

[jasjess7881]

Ok all...so sorry about the long wait. I remember reading other reviews and thinking..god people hurry up and write all of the review..it can't be that hard..boy was I wrong. It is a lot of typing..so I took a break, but I am ready now. I will try and get it all done now, but I am in the middle of preparing for my mom's 50th bday tomorrow, so I only have a little while.

 

Ok now onward with the review..

 

 

So we woke up on Monday and it was Progresso. I remember thinking before this cruise that I really was not looking forward to this port b/c people really didn't talk real great about this port. Boy was I wrong. I actually really enjoyed Progresso, maybe even better than Cozumel..SHHH don't tell anyone b/c they might not agree!!

 

So we got the kids up early..about 7:15 a.m....they were excited though about seeing the beach..so they got up no problem. We got dressed, packed up our beach bags and headed to grab a quick bite from the buffet and headed off the ship. It was way, way hot...but we were ready to fight the crowd to get to the beach.

 

the kids waiting to head out

 

When we got off the ship, there was another ship next to us...The Fantasy

 

 

It was pretty cool to see the two ships next to each other.

 

My kids sitting with teh Ecstasy in the background..

 

 

We walked through the shops and got to the bus stop that would take us to the beach.

 

Kids sitting on the bus...thank goodness we got a bus with A/C..

 

 

The walls of concrete that were put up to help with high water in hurricanes

 

We got off the bus and then we had to walk about 3 or 4 blocks to get to the beach. It was really hot..my kids wanted a straw hat and a fan to keep cool. They were pretty cheap so of course I obliged.

We finally made it to the beach!! YEA!!!

 

My kids immediately took their clothes off and went into the water. The water was not crystal clear, but it was cool and felt great in the hot sun!!

We found a cabana with a table and chairs, so we were under the shade the whole day, which was life saving in the heat!

[jasjess7881]

The cabana we were under

 

kids in the water

 

Hubby and I taking a self portrait

 

My first drink..they were yummy!!

 

The boys drinking

[jasjess7881]

Our waiter..he was awesome...he spoke great English and was on top of everything we wanted..there were 11 of us..so he was very busy!!!

 

Ok drink #3...I told you they were yummy!!

 

 

There was person doing balloon animals, so of course the kids wanted a sword

 

There was a guy bringing an iguana around so people could hold it..of course for tips..but it was pretty cool...so we did it.

 

 

 

It was my bro in law's bday so we celebrated a lot and he even got a balloon bday hat and an iguana!!

 

[jasjess7881]

We had to be back on the ship by 2:00 or 2:30, I can not really remember, so we started packing up by 1:00 and headed back to catch a bus!!

 

my girls fanning their uncle!!

 

 

My middle daughter sporting a cool look

 

We got back to the bus about 2:00 and went to our room to shower and change. We went back upstairs for the sailaway and say good bye to the Fantasy..they were departing at 4:00. We watched a family of 5 run to catch the ship..there is always one. We sailed away and then we went to go grab something to eat..we were hungry!! We then went and took a nap. We slept to about 7:30 or so. We did not do the dining room that night. My oldest wanted to go back to Camp Carnival so we took her and then just hung out with the other family members on the lido deck.

 

Oh this was our friend for the night

 

 

We went to bed early because we had to get up early for Cozumel!!

 

Up next Cozumel!!

[jasjess7881]

Jessica

It was so nice to meet in person...Bailey had a great time with Jasmine and keeps asking to call her....Clay and I were disappointed as was my mother....Seems it was not anything like the others we all had been on before but the most important this is that Bailey did have a great time and keeps saying it was the best time of her life. Loved your review...Its neat seeing it through the eyes of someone else....Glad to have met you and lets keep in touch...Maybe we can go with you next May.

 

 

Shelly,

 

Jasmine absolutely loved Bailey...Bailey can call Jasmine anytime or vice versa..I know Jasmine would love to talk to Bailey. I am sure going on a cruise by yourselves is different from going on a cruise with kids!! I am going to admit that I can not wait to go in May without the kids!! SSHhh don't tell them that!! Ya'll are more than welcome to join us in May..it will be awesome!! ANyways let's keep emailing each other and we can make some plans for the future!!

[jasjess7881]

Oh! Looks like so much fun!

We will be back on her in 17 days!

Cant wait, thanks for the 'preview'

 

~Ecstasy is one of our Favorite Ships!~ :D

 

 

I am so jealous... as we were debarking, people were pulling up to get on the ship. I was so jealous and really bummed!! I really wanted to turn around and get back on!! Hope ya'll have fun!!

[jasjess7881]

Just curious if you have a copy of the Capers that you might could email or post...

We leave August 31st on the Ecstasy and I am getting more excited reading your review. I love the first glimpse you get of the "fin" when you are driving up to the pier in Galveston!!!:D

 

 

I sure can email them..I will not be able to scan them until Sunday though...so if you can give me your email address..I will email them to you on Sunday..sorry, but I do not have a scanner until then. I think when we saw the whale tail is when it really hit me that we are really going on teh cruise and that it is finally here!!!

[jasjess7881]

Ok today is Tuesday..Cozumel here we come!!

 

I woke up about 7ish because I wanted to see us come into the port.

 

Hello Cozumel!!

 

One of the problems that I had with my camera, was that everytime I would go from inside to outside, my camera lens would fog up. Well I would wipe it off...it would be okay...well eventually it would fog up inside the lens. I was annoyed b/c I was missing some very good picture oppurtunities waiting for it to unfog. I then decided to take it to the ladies room and put it inder the hand dryer for a few seconds..it worked like a charm. Just a little help..if you ever have that problem.

 

Anyways back to Cozumel!!

 

Pretty waves and water

 

Beautiful water

 

I then went and woke everybody else up and we loaded up again and headed up to eat and then off the boat we go.

 

Our friends--the Fantasy were there with us again

 

As we were walking on the pier..we saw another ship. It was RCI Enchantment of the Seas..it was pretty

 

We walked to the shops and sat in the shade and waited for some of the family members to buy some souvenirs

 

the girls waiting

 

[jasjess7881]

A very pretty flower area....with the ships behind it

 

We caught a taxi and we had all decided to go to Paradise Beach for the kids!!

 

 

The taxi for 6-8 people was $28..for 5 people it was $13...

 

Paradise Beach was $10 for each person IF you wanted to play on the toys. I bought 2 wristbands..1 for each of my daughters, well my 5 year old was not going to play on the toys..so we asked if my hubby could have her wristband..they said it was okay.

 

The iceberg and the slide

 

The trampolines

 

Oldest daughter has no fear and went straight to the trampoline

This is her jumping off

[KOOLBEANS]

You are writing an amazing review with all the pictures and detail! We so appreciate this very much. This is an really enjoyable read!!

[jasjess7881]

Ok back to the review..got sidetracked for a little while!!

 

My no fear daughter climbed the iceberg all the way the top and would jump off...scared me to death!!

 

 

Jasmine and her cousin kayaking...they had a little hard time trying to manuever...

 

My hubby climbed all the way..he was tired when he was done and he was sore the next day..

 

 

We left Cozumel at about 1:00..it was really hot...Cozumel was definitely more expensive then Progresso and adult wise...Progresso was more fun, but kid wise..Cozumel was better.

 

Girls in taxi on the way back to the ship

 

 

The Ecstasy and Fantasy whale tails

 

[mrsbean1990]

I am so jealous... as we were debarking, people were pulling up to get on the ship. I was so jealous and really bummed!! I really wanted to turn around and get back on!! Hope ya'll have fun!!

 

LOL...as we were waiting for my husband to pick us up at the cruise terminal on debarkation day, I was watching the people in the embarkation line, so happy and excited with the whole cruise ahead of them. I was SO jealous!!! ;)

[jasjess7881]

We got back to the ship and it was so hottttt!! So we went and got something to eat and went back to the room and went to sleep!! We were tired!!

 

The ships docked!!

 

Son was really tired!!

 

We woke up about 7ish and got dressed. All the adults decided to have an adult dinner, so we took the kids to Camp Carnival. We met everybody else in the dining room and had a nice dinner.

 

everybody at dinner

 

 

Hubby and I at dinner

 

 

Tonight was the night that the waiters sang and danced to Slum Dog Millionare.

 

Our waiter dancing

 

 

This waiter was hilarious...

 

[jasjess7881]

After dinner, we went and got the kids and went to our room. We were tired from the full day of activities!!

 

This was our friend for the night!!

 

 

We crashed hard for the night!!

 

Next up is our last day at sea!! :(

[jasjess7881]

Today was our last day at sea!! I am a little bummed but oh well....we still have all day!!

 

We woke up a little later than usual--it was about 9ish. We got dressed and headed up to the lido deck and ate breakfast. After breakfast the kids wanted to play putt putt, so we took them to play. It was hot, but breezy..so not so bad.

 

Son playing putt putt

 

 

He loved it!!

 

It was really pretty up on the top deck!!

 

 

We then went to view our pictures and went to the gift shop.

 

After buying 2 for $20 shirts. We went to change into our suits. We wanted to let the kids play in the pool for the last day. They had a blast on the slide.

 

 

The infamous bucket o beers

 

 

We walked to get the famous 24 hour ice cream.

 

 

It started to get real dark and started raining about 2:00 and it rained on and off for a couple of hours..but we were good under the cover..

 

[pamletx]

Laugh - we were on the Ecstasy the week before you - the hilarious waiter was our waiter ... (Sorry - I don't remember his name .. it started w/an A ) ... He WAS hilarious - and a VERY good dancer actually. He was a great waiter too!

 

I was one of those debarking ... looking at you all in line ... with my lower lip out so far a birdie could land on it... :(

[jasjess7881]

Here are some really dark rain clouds

 

 

We wanted to eat in the dining room for the last night, so headed in to get ready. We changed and headed out to see our last sunset on the cruise!!

 

It was so pretty!!

 

 

 

Family pic

 

Kid pic

 

We then headed to the dining room to EAT!!

 

It was kinda sad knowing that this was our last night being pampered!!

 

 

Waiters singing the farewell song

 

[jasjess7881]

The crazy waiter was at it again!!

 

 

The kids with our waiters

 

 

Son did not make it to the entree part of dinner again!!

 

 

Goodbye Warm chocolate melting cake...yummy!!

 

[jasjess7881]

My MIL and FIL said they would watch the kids so we could have some adult time. So we went to the casino for a little while and the we headed to get the kids and went to bed. Oh my gosh the trip is over...I am so bummed!! It seemed to take forever to get here and it was over like that!!

 

Next up is disembarkation!! I will try and get to it tomorrow but it will probably be Sunday...I will also have some last misc pictures and some last notes I would like to mention!! Good night all!!