Ecstasy Review 2-7-2005

First cruise, and let me tell you we had an absolute blast!

Embarkation - The computers were down, but it still went somewhat smooth. Total wait time I would say was about 35 minutes or so since they had to do everything by hand. The luggage man at the terminal was very rushy and ended up flustering my wife....next thing we know the porter checked our luggage with our birth certificates inside it!!!! Well we made it on the ship anyway, after reassuring the lady in line that our certificates were indeed in the carry on that the porter took.....and off we went.

Room

Day 1 - I think we finally ended up taking off from Galveston around 5:15 or so....I could be wrong but it was definately quite a bit later than 4. We headed to our room right away and then went up top to a wonderful lunch at the lido deck. I have heard many people say that they see "water stains" and "signs of aging"....let me tell you, I did not. Our room was in top notch condition...yes the carpet screams of the disco era, but its condition was very good. I didnt see anything that really showed her age except for a few scuffs on the wall were luggage had been rubbed and banged against. The bedding was very clean, the comforters were nice and comfy and the pillows were good, better than hotels, but not as good as stuff at home. Bathroom was spotless, no cracks in tub, tile, toilet...everything showed a perfectly white grout and no tile stains to speak of. I loved the Lever2000 body wash they provide you in the shower, it worked and I'm gonna buy some when I goto store next, shampoo was alright...and they had no conditioner.

Food-

The panorama grill was my least favorite area, but its definately a personal issue. The neon blue lights just make it seem dark and dreary....the food and staff are great, its just the mood of the lights that turned me off. So if we had food there, we took it to the little back balconies and ate outside.

The lido buffets were good, but we didnt really utilize them except for a hamburger or hot dog on occasion. We mainly ate breakfast, snacked, then saved room for our wonderful dinners.

The dinners were excellent....our wait staff were hands down the best service professionals I have ever met. Alex and Vera(Romanian) made the debarkation very sad as I will truly miss them. Like I said, the food was excellent and every night there was something I just had to try. As has been said many times, the soups are really good too, try the pumpkin and mushroom soups....top notch! Lobster was pretty good, not great. The beef meals, prime rib, tenderloin, and filet mignon were excellent. Seafood was pretty good, some nights the shrimps were good, some nights average. I had never had Escargot before, so I gave that a try and ended up ordering 2 :D All in all they offer such a great selection, quanity, and great environment that the dining room alone was worth the cruise fare.

Sea Days

The sea days were fun, but we enjoyed the port days much more. We were a lone couple, and there weren't a whole lot of people our age running around on-board. We did meet a great guy from Texas(a marine to boot) and we shared many hours of fun with him...other than that the rest of the people either stuck with their little clique, or just were so far from our age range they must not have wanted to approach us :D It could be that Texans(which make up 95% of the Ecstasy guests) could sense we were not from there, and shunned us, j/k! We did enjoy some of the onboard actitivities, but nothing to write home about. If we went with another couple we knew, or a group of family or friends the at sea days would have been much different....we still had a pretty good time, though.

The pool was nice, and I went down the slide quite a few times. There were quite a few people on board that really didnt want to stay poolside, so finding a chair was not that hard to do. Only 1 hot tub was working the entire cruise, the one right next to the pool. But not many wanted to get in there either, so it was vacant most of the time. Deck was kinda slippery, but I never came close to falling. There were a few kids running around, but for the most part they acted very well, and just enjoyed themselves without causing any grief to other pax.

Entertainment

We thought the night shows were pretty good....not quite las vegas good, but still pretty impressive. We only made it to the comedian 1 night and he was funny. Never did spend anytime in the Casino so I cant really comment there.

Ports of Call

Really easy to get on and off the ship...I wish Playa del Carmen was a later departure than 4:00 in the afternoon. The transporation costs at Calica are ridiculously high, especially for just 2 people.

Review of Paradise Beach, and Xel-Ha are found in their respective boards.

Debarkation

We happened to be green tags, so we got off the boat first(after handicapped, and self assist). It was still a pretty decent wait, 30-45 mins, for customs/immigration...but overall very well managed. We had a 2:40 flight and made it back to IAH Bush with plenty of time to spare.

Summary

There is no way we could have enjoyed ourselves more for the amount of money we paid. Everything about the cruise was as good or better than we expected and plan on doing it again when time permits. I would definately sail this ship again if it moved to different ports. We enjoyed our ports of call very much, but next time I think we wanna do Alaskan or East Carribbean to see what its like there. The staff, ship, and everyting about the Ecstasy truly made for a very enjoyable vacation....my rating would be a 9.3 out of 10!

Thank you for posting! How will all those Texans feel about Canadians? We will board Ecstasy on Feb 21st . . . . . can't wait! :)

Thank you so much for the review. We leave in 3 weeks - I can't wait! We also leave out of IAH - what time did you get to the airport after you disembarked? Just curious. Thanks!!!

Thanks for the Review!Glad you also had a great time on the Ecstay!

Seven....Nice Review! Great to hear you had a blast...thanks for sharing your thoughts.

We got back to IAH about 11:30 Central time. Thats after stopping to fill the rental car up with gas, and taking our sweet time doing that. And missing the exit once too. I am guessing we could have made it back by 11:00 pretty easy, but the rental return and baggage checking took at least 30-45 minutes so make sure you account for that.

Overall, IAH is a very well designed and ran airport. I'm mainly used to DenverIA which is a joke!

What type cabin were you in? Also did you hear anything about the camp for kids? We have about 3 weeks to go and we cant wait!! THanks for the review!

Did you by any chance notice if they had hair dryers in the cabins?

What type cabin were you in? Also did you hear anything about the camp for kids? We have about 3 weeks to go and we cant wait!! THanks for the review!

Karen, we took the same cruise. It was a first cruise for our DD 9 and DS 7 (as of yesterday). They loved it, they haven't stopped talking about how much fun Camp Carnival was. They ate dinner with us the first night and after that they ate each evening at Camp Carnival. The staff was very friendly and worked great with the kids. Let me know what questions you have and I will try my best to answer them. I also have a copy of the camp carnival schedule for the 6-8 and 9-11 age groups, let me know if you want a copy. My kids had so much fun that they want to make this a yearly event. :D

Did you by any chance notice if they had hair dryers in the cabins?

I was in cabin U182 and there was no hair dryer.

My kids had so much fun that they want to make this a yearly event. :D

Dont forget to take us along as well :D

I can vouch for Dwell's kids having a great time at Camp Carnival, everytime we bumped into them their kids were absolutely glowing with excitement for Camp!

There were no hairdryers in the cabins. I had an inside cabin, saw window cabin, and a verandah balcony cabin and there weren't any.

Karen, we took the same cruise. It was a first cruise for our DD 9 and DS 7 (as of yesterday). They loved it, they haven't stopped talking about how much fun Camp Carnival was. They ate dinner with us the first night and after that they ate each evening at Camp Carnival. The staff was very friendly and worked great with the kids. Let me know what questions you have and I will try my best to answer them. I also have a copy of the camp carnival schedule for the 6-8 and 9-11 age groups, let me know if you want a copy. My kids had so much fun that they want to make this a yearly event. :D

We are leaving on our 1st cruise 4/4/05 and it is so nice to hear some good reviews of the Ecstasy. Can you send me a copy of the camp carnival schedules. I will be traveling with a 14, 10 & 6 yr old. Thanks!

scboobear@aol.com

My kids also want to make this a yearly event!Last year we were talking about what we want to do for our summer vacation and my hubby said "what about going back to Disney World?"The kids were like..NOOOO i want to go on a cruise..so we booked the Elation for july!Our first cruise ruined us!lol

Karen, we took the same cruise. It was a first cruise for our DD 9 and DS 7 (as of yesterday). They loved it, they haven't stopped talking about how much fun Camp Carnival was. They ate dinner with us the first night and after that they ate each evening at Camp Carnival. The staff was very friendly and worked great with the kids. Let me know what questions you have and I will try my best to answer them. I also have a copy of the camp carnival schedule for the 6-8 and 9-11 age groups, let me know if you want a copy. My kids had so much fun that they want to make this a yearly event. :D

We would love a copy of Camp Carnival program! We need the 6-8 group since mine are 8. Email to karenh1127@houston.rr.com

Thanks!