Carnival Ecstasy review, Feb 28 to March 5

Hello everyone! Just wanted to do a review on my recent cruise. It was out of Charleston with stops in Nassau and Half Moon Cay.

Background

This cruise was booked about 2 and a half weeks from sailing. I am 43 and just finished college (my mid life crisis). This trip was a gift from my husband, we did try and find one that we could all take together but the timing just didn't work out. I felt a bit guilty at times knowing I was on vacation while he worked but he would remind me that I had to find a job myself when I got home. ;) My friend E went with me. She is 21 and went on this same cruise just 3 months ago. One interesting fact about her is that she speaks several languages and tried to thank or respond to the crew in a language they knew (other than English of course) and they seemed to appreciate that. It was quite interesting trying to keep up with her as she is all energy. I either felt young again:D or really old :o.

We were originally looking at booking an inside room but an ocean view was only added $10 to the cost so we splurged. We were on the Upper deck in room U165. This was right by the aft elevators and very convenient. We never noticed any nose from that area. The only noise I did hear was the people down the hall with a toddler. I have no problem when I hear the child screaming/crying while in their room. It was when they would take them out in the hall (I guess to give the others in the room a break) and when they once let them run laughing loudly in the halls at 2 am. Thankfully this wasn't often.

We did pre purchase the Cheers package. I like to prepay as much as I can and this really helped. I could try whatever drink I wanted to and not worry about wasting the money. I will purchase it again in the future. We more than broke even cost wise and the freedom to have what I wanted was priceless. I also ooh advantage of the waters, coffee, and soda you get with Cheers.

More to come . . . .

Following

Hello, we was on same cruise as you. What did you think about it? We been on this ship 3 times and enjoyed the upgrades of the food. We was on E deck. :)

Thanks for the review.

We loved the Ecstasy. The small ships are fun. Congrats on your graduation.

Will be following along.

Hello, we was on same cruise as you. What did you think about it? We been on this ship 3 times and enjoyed the upgrades of the food. We was on E deck. :)

This was my first time on this ship but my friend had been on it 3 months ago. She really liked the new food venues!

Embarkation day

We left from the SC Upstate at about 6:30 am. We had the 12:00 to 12:30 check in time and wanted to give ourselves some extra time just in case we got caught in Columbia traffic. The drive went well and we stopped in Summerville to grab a couple last minute items, say hello to my Sister who worked in the same shopping center, and grab a small bite to eat. About 10:30 we headed downtown.

This was the first time either of us had used the parking at the port. I had pre-payed online and had my receipt ready. The line didn't seem too bad, we drove through a good bit of it only waiting in lines to have things checked, pay, and drop off luggage. We got a great indoor spot and were off to the ship.

We walked in the terminal right at 12:00. In just a few minutes we were checking in. I am a big planner when it comes to vacation, I make sure everything possible is done in advance. I had called both credit cards in advance to let them know I was traveling but on one of the cards the person on the other end wanted much, much more info than I had ever given to do this. She then said she must speak to my Husband as he was the primary on this card. I gave him the phone and she wanted MORE info. At this point we ended the call and said we would go to the local branch. Went to the branch and there was no problem. Then when I checked in my card was declined. Grrr. Went to guest services, declined again. My Husband was off work and at home so he made another trip back to the bank and got it worked out. It seems the woman on the phone thought the call was suspicious and inactivated our account. This made me really glad I always travel with two cards kept in different places.

We got on the ship and made our way to the Lido and the new Tequilla bar. We got our drink and they put on our magical Cheers sticker. At 1:30 we made our way to our room on the Upper deck and found our luggage had already arrived.

I don't remember what we did until dinner. I am sure we just did a bit of exploring and I think took a nap. Dinner was at 8:15 for us so we got a snack. Dinner was good. I don't remember what I had. I had sent an email asking to be placed at a large table so we could meet others. I received a response a few days before the cruise that they were able to place us at a 10 top. We had a wonderful table of people and many of us are now FB friends. We really enjoyed dinner every night.

That night we went to Stripes nightclub after the Welcome Aboard show. We took full advantage of the Cheers plan and danced. It was quite a late night.

Nice start to your review and Congratulations on finishing college.

Great review so far. I am looking forward to the rest since DD and I are considering taking this cruise next Jan. We live in NC so the drive to port won't be too long and we want to stay in Charleston afterwards for a couple of days since DD has never been there before. I am looking forward to hearing about the ship and the ports of call. We have cruised before on the Fascination and I really enjoyed the smaller ship compared to the larger ones we had previously been on. Thanks.:)

We had a good time on the cruientire this year. Did you like the cruise director Ben?

We had a good time on the cruientire this year. Did you like the cruise director Ben?

Ben is awesome, good South Carolina guy.

When did you go?

I almost forgot!!! They had a Great Mardi Gras party on that first night. It was really fun with beads and cake. I didn't have any of the cake but people raved about it later.

I remember the Mardi gra party it was good

Sea Day

My friend came in very late so when I woke up at 6:30 I quietly got ready and went out to explore and read a bit. I hit the Lido buffet for a little to eat since the Sea Day Brunch didn't begin till 10 (I think). I had a grilled tomato and some bacon along with some of the wonderful guava juice. After that I just wandered around the ship occasionally finding a spot to read for a bit. I took advantage of my Cheers card at the coffee shop. A bit later I did hit the Sea Day Brunch and was seated with two nice couples. I had a mimosa and the eggs Benedict. The eggs Benedict is one of my favorite things to have on vacation. :D My friend was ready to leave the room a bit later and we just kind of wandered most of the day. Looking in the $10 store and I think doing a trivia game. We ended up with a ritual of getting Burgers and fries (often splitting a burger) about 3 since we had late dinner. We found that our favorite daytime bar was the Red Frog Rum bar and stayed pretty close since we both were trying some new things. Gotta love the freedom you get with Cheers. At some point we took a nap since we planned to be out late again that night.

It was elegant night and we took some time to get all dressed up. There was a pre dinner drink (or two) at the Alchemy Bar. I enjoyed the drinks I got there. We once again had dinner with our wonderful table. Everyone was dressed in their best and looked great. I realized later in the trip that I always felt a bit queasy in the dining room. I think that it was the specific motion of that area of the ship and the direction I was facing. I don't generally get sea sick on a cruise and I have been though a pretty good storm before. That's why the food just wasn't that memorable to me.

We changed clothes and again hit Stripes to dance. The bartender we liked from Red Frog was also in Stripes at night so that was a plus.

Tomorrow Nassau!

Nassau

When we booked this cruise it was just about getting away on a cruise, not the ports. I have been to Nassau several times and it was always just ok. My plan was to just stay on the ship for this port.

We had been out late and slept in a bit. We were just getting up as they made the announcement that they were ready for guests to disembark. We got some breakfast and leisurely made our way off the ship. I know, I said I wasn't going on shore but my friend convinced me to for a while. :D We just walked around for a bit, got a drink, and eventually ended up ay Junkanoo Beach. We stayed there for just about an hour then went back to the ship. My friend decided to go back out while I indulged in reading in the room and getting room service.

I have always been a big reader but being in school the last few years all I have been reading was textbooks and journal articles. I had brought my Kindle filled with old favorites so I could indulge myself. Room service also feels indulgent to me so this afternoon was bliss. I got a Rueben with potato salad and some tea. On a side note, yes, I did tip room service. It was good and my friend came back as I was finishing it and ate the other half of my sandwich.

We spent some time on the Serenity Deck after that. My friend in the sun, me in the shade. We had good bar service out there.

We had dinner again in the main dining room with our wonderful table mates. One of them joined us for the deck party and Serenity Nights party later. Lots of fun.

Half Moon Cay

This was my friend's favorite stop when she cruised 3 months ago. She was very excited to be going back. I have a love affair with Bermuda and the beaches there so I was a bit skeptical. LOL I am also a very pale person and it is rare for me to just sit on a beach.

We again took our time this morning. We were not in a rush to get on the tender. I had never been to a tender port so this was a new experience for me. It was easy and efficient. I think it may have been a bit hectic when they first began but ha calmed down some before we went.

It really is a beautiful place. If I go there again I will do one of the excursions that show you more of the island and some of the wildlife. We headed to the beach and I knew I wanted a clamshell. I had already got more sun than I needed the day before. We had to walk a ways to find the rental place. I signed for it and and was told to go look for someone in a yellow shirt on the other side of the pirate bar. Well no one was there so we went back. The person had been in the rental hut the whole time. OK. So they then called someone else on the radio and sent us to meet them, then said they would go with us. We got the a clamshell set up for us and then the employees stood in front of it arguing about who should be doing what. Very annoying and unprofessional.

I again spent some time reading (and napping) really enjoying my time there. Although I didn't use them there seemed to be ample bar staff moving around. Since Cheers didn't work there I just brought a couple of bottles of water with me. My friend spent some time in the water and walking the beach. We didn't hit the cook out they had on the island but some of our friends were disappointed in the fact that it ended early. After about 3 or 4 hours we headed back to the ship.

We grabbed some food and again went to the Serenity deck. There were no seats in the shade today. We used the hot tub some and it was nice to be there when we left. We gat a nice view of the island as we were sailing away.

Again dinner was in the main dining room with our new friends. We convinced more of them to come out with us for 80s night in Stripes. We had a ball. I really enjoy meeting new friends when I cruise.

My final verdict on Half Moon Cay. It is my favorite place in the Bahamas. It is beautiful but the pink sand beaches of Bermuda will always be my favorite.

We had a good time on the cruientire this year. Did you like the cruise director Ben?

I spoke to him briefly and he seemed like a nice guy. I just didn't go to that many things where he was. I did really enjoy DJ Niffty. On my last cruise it was the same few songs over and over and he didn't do that.

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Enjoying your review!

Love your review! Going on my first girls cruise in 6 days! Both excited and nervous!

Sea Day and The last full day of the cruise :(

This was another leisurely day. We went to the Sea Day brunch. I had the steak and eggs and this was the best steak I had the whole trip. We again indulged in mimosas, of course! During the course of the day we went to the Hasbro game show, watched the lip synch contest, and looked a bit in the shops. We did our packing and chose to place our luggage out that night for them to handle. It was chilly as we were headed east and I had on jeans and my jacket most of the time. There were still some people sunbathing on the decks.

We had several "one last" drink of our favorites. One last Guys burger and fries.

I took a walk around several floors to see where I may like to book if I can talk the Husband into a short get away.

We enjoyed dinner with our new friends and made plans to all go cheer one of them on at karaoke that night and then dancing again in Stripes. We all had fun and have connected via social media since we got back.

Nice review! I'll be cruising in 19 days and this has given me the motivation to get up for work and get another day over with!

Debarkation

I have cruised out of Charleston two other times, on two lines, so I was familiar with the silent (no announcements) process. This was not done well on this cruise. It seems as if they encourage everyone to take their own luggage off the ship. In all honesty I guess I would have known this had I gone to the talk. I did read the paper they sent and had figured that with a luggage tag of 7 it wouldn't be too bad.

It took quite a long time since most people took their own luggage. No problem there. It just seemed as if the screens were not updated. We finally just got in the line. It took over an hour in the line to get off the ship. Once off we grabbed a porter and were through customs quickly. The customs agent seemed confused that we were traveling together but had two separate forms. Took the short bus ride back to parking and we were on our way.

Final Thoughts

This is a great cruise for the price and the convenient (to us) port. Parking was really easy and it was great that you can prepay.

Embarkation was seamless. The staggered process seems to work really well and we were only in line about 15 minutes total when we were getting on.

Cheers was well worth the cost for us. There were several days when we both hit our 15 drink limit. When you have a mimosa at breakfast and several drinks throughout the day it isn't as hard as it seems. I do tip with most of my drinks. I know that it is added to the package. I did encounter the best bartender ever. He would make sure to give me a bottle of water when I had had several drinks. I never had a hangover on the trip and really think the waters he gave me made the difference. I also had sodas, specialty coffees, and bottled waters.

The room was fine but this was my first non suite on a cruise. Yes, I know, I'm spoiled. My last cruise on a Fantasy class ship was in one of the penthouse suites. I really missed having a balcony but know that I could live without it.

The food was fine but the most memorable thing was the steak at the brunch.

I would do this cruise again as a quick get away but next time would really not get off in Nassau and I would budget for a cabana on Half Moon Cay.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. I will answer to the best of my ability!