FlyingCruiserNJ's solo Ecstasy adventure - Miami May 12-16

Hello everyone, flyingcruisernj here. I just recently sailed on the carnival Ecstasy on a 4-day solo adventure to the wonderful ports of Key West and Cozumel and am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you all. This is also my third review on cc, with my others being of the imagination and the sensatIon from last fall. I am a Carnival platinum and this was my 11th cruise but I had never cruised solo before last week. I have read some fantastic solo cruise stories from the folks here on cc, so I finally decided to try it for myself. I had recently celebrated an accomplishment of sorts at work and got a few days for vacation so decided to go on a quick cruise getaway, what else. So, begins my adventure.

I chose this particular sailing for a meeting multitude of reasons. I have sailed on this particular vessel in the past, out of port Canaveral, and I know it is a nice, albeit very let's say, vintage, cruise ship. It was delivered in 1991, built for Carnival. I also noticed they were offering a Martina McBride concert onboard this ship as part of the Carnival Live series. I also liked the exact sail dates and was very familiar with the ports of call we would be visiting. I had also done this itinerary a few times in the past so I figured i probably wouldnt be seeing anything new on this sailing. This was also one of the sailings where they were offering solo cruisers cabins with no single supplement. So, I called my pvp a week or so to sail date and booked a wonderful 6B ocean view cabin for $139 plus taxes and fees. Unbeatable to be honest. Since the pack n go fare bucket only gives you a guarantee of a category of cabin, I didn't know my exact cabin location until about 5 days prior to sailing. I received my cabin assignment a few days prior and it wasn't in a bad location on Riviera deck. I also was waitlisted for the late 2015 dining room seating but received confirmation prior to sailing that I did indeed have a seat at that time. So, with a little background of how I ended up on this cruise out of the way, here is my experience. I will try to make it as excited, entertaining and humorous as possible.

DAY ONE - EMBARKATION DAY

Yes, I usually fly into my port of departure the day before the cruise. I always advise people to do this as I am quite intimately aware of the dangers of flying in the day of the cruise. However, today I went against my own advice and flew in about 4 hours before scheduled departure time. LOL. The day before was mother's day and I wanted to spend it with her instead of sitting in a hotel a thousand miles away from home. Plus, I have travelled so much this past year and have spent so many nights in hotels, I calculated the risk of flying in the day of and went for it.

Now, not to say the whole experience of getting there wasn't stressful. It was. But I had my primary plan, a backup plan, and a few backups to to the primary backup. It so turns out I got a decent stroke of luck and got on an early flight from Philadelphia (KPHL) to Fort Lauderdale (KFLL) and landed right on time there, in the vicinity of 0900. Good. Nice weather for a flight down the eastern seaboard on a Monday morning. Hurdle number one was behind me. I have a bunch of photos I took on this cruise but I can't copy them into this forum on my device so I will get them added in when I get the chance later on. It was actually my intention to post my review sooner but I just haven't had the chance since getting back home.

So, I get an overpriced breakfast from a popular chain restaurant and am on my way to find my transportation to the port of Miami. I have mentioned it in past reviews but I really don't like FLL airport. It is too small, congested for what it serves, especially on cruise days. They are spending billions of dollars to modernize the terminals and build a new state of the art runway but that obviously takes years to do. I only had a backpack and a rollerboard carry-on suitcase so I went right to the ground transportation hub they have just past baggage claim.

I had heard great things about SAS Transportation from members here so I elected to give them a shot. I didn't reserve anything ahead of time because I was quite unsure of my arrival time and even arrival airport so when I got to my destination I found them. They do trips every half hour or so from FLL to the cruise port so not a long wait at all for a van. Just a note: they do not serve MIA due to licensing issues. I asked the gentleman driving the van if he had a spot for a late arriving passenger and he did. SAS does not accept payment ahead of time so paying with cash is very easy and convenient. The ride to the port of Miami took about a half hour with a little traffic on 95 in Miami due to an accident a few minutes ahead of us. The going rate is $15 per pax as long as you have at least four people in the van. We got off at the terminal, I made my reservation for transportation back to FLL on Friday, paid and tipped the driver and off to checkin.

It is much easier if you have all your documents and your onboard accounts set up beforehand. I got to the terminal early, probably 1030 so I was one of the first ones there. I easily got through security and was upstairs in no time to go to the captain's lounge to get my sign and sail card. It sure is nice being a platinum, huh. I got my s/s card, verified my documents and onboard accounts were right and waited in the lounge until it was time to board. They have nice comfy sofa chairs and icewater for those who check in and are waiting to board. Since this was a Martina McBride cruise, a whole throng of media people were checking in and getting briefed on how the cruise experience would be by a Carnival representative.

Finally, at about 1145, they called us all to pre-board. I got my obligatory embarkation picture taken and was onboard quickly. Unfortunately, nobody's cabin was ready yet as of 1200 so I had to drag all my things up around with me on lido while I signed up for bottomless bubbles and got lunch.

Lunch consisted of a tril to the Mongolian wok and rotisserie and a few Mr pibbs. The line was very short at the wok and there is neved a line at the rotisserie station. I got salmon and shrimp and mei fun with szechwan sauce, made to order right in front of me. Can't beat that. I also got mashed potatoes and freshly carved roast beef from rotisserie.

After lunch I texted some folks back home and walked around the ship some. I finally got into my cabin at about 1330 and dropped my bags off. I unpacked and took a short nap. Well, I woke up as they were announcing the muster drill. That is serious stuff and I did get myself up to the muster station in time, which was in the nightclub. It took a while due to everything being announced in both English and Spanish but it was over around 1630. Yeeehaw. Vacation officially started. We powered away from the dock and headed down the channel, past south beach and the cargo port of Miami and into the ocean. I put my phone in cruise ship mode and off we were.

I hung around the sailaway party some and went back to the cabin for another nap at around 1800. I woke up just in time for dinner. I took a nice pic of the sunset over the open ocean from my cabin window, and went to dinner. On embarkation day, many people don't dress up in the mdr or even go at all. I sat down at a ten-top but only one other gentleman was there. Carnival did seat the solos together, which is considerate of them. We got acquainted, ordered our dinners and enjoyed. I got beef brisket with shrimp cocktail for appetizer and warm melting chocolate cake for dessert. I usually order multiple entrees and desserts but I was tired and not up to it tonight.

After dinner, I headed to the lido deck hot tub to relax and met a few very nice people whom I talked to about numerous things for a while. They eventually went to the club and I went to see the tail end of the opening night comedy routine in the punchliner lounge but I did see these nice folks numerous other times during the cruise.

After the comedy show, about midnight I headed up to the pizza station to get a few pepperoni slices and a soft drink. Carnival pizza is 24/7 and on fantasy class ships is located aft in the lido dining room. It was good. Tomorrow was an early day in Key West so I got to sleep about 0100 to rest up for the next morning's activities.

Hope you have enjoyed so far and more to come. Will continue review soon and will include photos from day 1 as soon as I am able to sometime today or tomorrow. Thanks for reading and happy cruising!

Great start. Looking forward to more of your review.

Thanks for posting-doing the same itinerary on the Victory in November-I liked the Ecstasy as it was easy to navigate.

Here are my photos from day 1. I am still not a whiz on how to do this so hopefully it turns out right but here goes.

This was my transportation to FLL. Not a bad seat, not a bad flight. Some rain in the FLL area and some light chop on the way in but overall good.

My bags. I had to note this because I saw people getting on the shuttle van at FLL with two 61" suitcases each. Seriously? It was a four day cruise and if you are a platinum, you get two free bags of laundry. I was making the sarcastic point that you don't need to pack heavy on a vacation. :D I still didn't even use all the stuff I had in my backpack and carry on 22" either. Go figure. It was tough lugging the bag all around on embarkation day until the cabin was ready but I would trade that for keeping the thing in my positive control the entire time and not have to worry about it getting lost or misplaced. Also, the baggage guys onboard work hard enough already. No need to make them work any harder.

Very hard to explain in words how good this was. It is the Mongolian wok and it was shrimp, salmon pieces stir fried with lo mein and mei fun noodles in szechwan sauce, made to order. Other sauce choices are black bean and Thai barbeque if you are scared of the spicy stuff or just cannot eat it due to dietary concerns. Chicken is also an everyday option in the meat department. I also got a Mr. Pibb or two at the bar, with minimal ice as part of my bottomless bubbles package. Just show the sign and sail card with a sticker they put on it at any bar and get any soft drink they have. Oh, how I wish they carry Dr. Pepper but Mr. Pibb will have to do. Bottomless bubbles was $29 including taxes and gratuities for four days. Not bad at all. Granted, I can get four cases of coke for 10 bucks at home on sale but I am not at home on a cruise now am I? lol. I should have gotten a pic of the rotisserie stuff but didn't this time. The potatoes are very tasty and creamy and the roast beef was decent with a little gravy added in.

This was my perch while standing up on the sports deck at about 1400. I was walking around on the jogging track and scoping out the mini golf course a little. This is of downtown Miami and the lido deck pool area. A classic shot if you ask me and never gets old, no matter how many times you see it and cruise out of there. It was hot there that day though for sure. But after the winter we just had, I really don't mind.

After our muster drill and sailaway, here was another classic shot of us sailing down the channel, past the causeway and South Beach. On our right was the port of Miami for cargo and it is huge. Containers stacked 5 high as far as the the eye can see. We were escorted by a US Coast Guard boat with full artillery mounted on the front until we got out past the shoreline, as is the usual. Wanted a pic of that but people were crowding the railing and it was windy and I was afraid I would drop my camera off the side of the ship by accident if I tried.

Anyway, that does it for day one. I have a lot more pics of my other days in this cruise, stay tuned for my next installment whenever I get to it. Thanks for the nice comments from those who have read and enjoyed up to this point, and have a good day.

Main dining room on evening one. I couldn't post this due to image limits in one single post so here is my dinner shot. Obviously everyone had left the mdr already in this picture but it gives an idea of what the atmosphere was. The mdr was half empty this evening as everyone was tired from embarkation day but I still enjoyed my stuff. As I said, there was only two of us there that first night but we still enjoyed ourselves and the wait staff was attentive and good at their jobs. It is neat looking out the window of the mdr and seeing the sunset at late dining. Sunset was at 2000 or so on this sailing and you don't get the benefit of late sunsets and early sunrises when cruising in the wintertime. I can't forget if this was the Wind Song or the Wind Star dining room though. It was the aft mdr. Anyway, enjoy.

One of my first cruises was solo on the Ecstasy. I am also a flying cruiser.

One of my first cruises was solo on the Ecstasy. I am also a flying cruiser.

I have been on the Ecstasy twice and enjoyed it both times. First time was a few years ago when it was sailing out of Port Canaveral. Nice, well maintained ship considering its age and the amount of wear and tear it has gotten since 1991. Thanks for reading, part two of the review is upcoming.

So, here is part two of the cruise review. Today was our early port day in Key West, Monroe County, FL. Day two of my Ecstasy adventure. This will be in two parts as it looks as if there is a limit per post on images and this was a very eventful day.

DAY TWO: KEY WEST

So, here we are in beautiful Key West, FL. This is a gem at the western end of the Florida Keys island chain and is accessible via US Route 1 or by air. The southernmost point is just 90 miles from Cuba. Of course I went there on a cruise this time although I have taken a land trip there in the past. We arrived at 0730 or so according to what I was told although I didn't wake up until around 1030. I am a night owl and do not do mornings. My cabin steward was very good about working around my odd schedule as I was never in the cabin at the same time any two days so it was very hard for him to plan when to service my room. Not that I made a huge mess for him to clean but still. He was very friendly and always asked if I needed anything and how was the cruise so far. So, I shower, change and head up to the lido deck for late risers breakfast.

After 1030 I think it is, they move all breakfast service operations to the indoor part of the lido dining room so they can prepare the outdoor part for lunch service. I would say I am odd in that I do late breakfast but there were sure a lot of people in that line with me.... Breakfast was good on this day however. I got maple sausage, a waffle with syrup, ham, roasted potatoes and bacon with scrambled eggs as my platter. I have complained loudly in the past about the scrambled eggs on Carnival but these were actually edible, although not great. They do have an omelet station that is open until 1200 but I was too lazy to go there today. The Bacon Police were out in full force metering out the ham and bacon served but gave generous portions upon request. I also got orange juice and guava passion fruit cocktail from the juice machine and boy was the passion fruit guava juice good. I have noted this before but I have not been able to find anything close to it on land anywhere and if anyone knows someplace that has it, let me know. It is something nice that Carnival has that nobody else does. Here is my breakfast:

So, after breakfast I head down to the gangway to exit the ship. We were parked at the Navy Yard today as the much larger Carnival Dream was parked downtown at Mallory Square. That just means it is a much longer ride to the action, as the base is pretty far away from downtown. I board the trolley at 1100, and we ride into the downtown through the Truman Annex and a few other historical residential areas. The driver was very informative, friendly and upbeat and made the 15-minute ride go by very quickly. Now, mind you the ship leaves at 1330 and last call for the trolley back from downtown is 1230....more on that later.

The trolley is operated by Conch Train Tours and the Old Town Trolley also runs through Key West. One is hop on hop off and the other one is not but tickets run something like $10-20 depending on which one you choose. Well worth it if you haven't already seen all there is to see in EYW but I have in past trips there so I just went off on my own to sightsee. There really is a lot of architecture and historical stuff to see but I had seen most of it before so I just walked northbound up Duval Street, the main entertainment and shopping district in town. Here is a pic of the Conch Tour Train that I had taken a few years ago on another cruise:

So, I have an hour and a half or so to do my thing here before it is time to go back to the ship. Don't get me started on the early departure from this neat place....I will talk about that later. I peoplewatch, and check out what places I would like to try out for drinking purposes. I settled on a place about 5 blocks north of Mallory Square, called Flying Monkeys Saloon. It is a nice place with a bar and outdoor seating section, right on the southbound side of Duval. I got some frozen raspberry drink that came in a really cool souvenir cup for $10 and sat down to watch some local tv programming that was on at the bar. I talked to a gentleman who lived in Key West but was from my area and we just talked about life in general in Key West. Everything from raising a family there to what it is like to work there to cost of living compared to our hometown. Trust me, when I say it that it is not cheap to live there and I really don't know if I would make it down there. Life is just at a different pace there. As with most vacation places, I love visiting but living there would just be a whole different story. Anyway...

The clock is ticking, I head back down Duval St towards the trolley and have time to stop in one more place. I passed by a place that had 4 Coronas for $6 which I would have pounced on if I had more time but settled on Sloppy Joe's Bar. It is an establishment that Ernest Hemingway had frequented when he lived on Bone Island. Lot of history there and a good atmosphere. I had been here before and got a souvenir glass, so I just got one of their famous margaritas and took in the atmosphere for a little while. Just a side rant: I saw a Wendy's and a Hard Rock Cafe among other chain spots on Duval, right in the same area as these fine and specialty places. Now I have nothing against those places or chain restaurants in general as I frequent Wendy's and have been to more than a few Hard Rocks but I am not going to a place that I can drive 5 minutes from home to get to or see in any city I visit. You are in Key West. Enjoy the unique aspect to this place. Rant over. So, it is 1215 and time to run back to the trolley station so I won't be a pier runner.... Here are Flying Monkeys Saloon, both my drink containers from my bar hopping and the outside of Sloppy Joes, taken from across the street:

Now, today was a very warm and humid day and as I was walking back it began to pour raining. It didn't bother me too much but a lot of people were scrambling to find cover wherever they could amidst sarcastic comments from others and merchants that it is only rain and they won't melt if they get a little wet. There were still tons of people out although obviously not everyone walking around Key West is on a cruise and I believe the Dream left later in the day. Key West does a great sunset festival every night in the Mallory Square area but if you are on a cruise you don't get to see it as they want all vessels out of the area by sunset as not to block the view. I witnessed the festivities once on a land vacation. Fun. Check it out if you ever get the chance. Anyway....I get back to the station at 1225 or so and I am thinking I am going to be one of those dreaded pier runners. I was quite surprised to see the line of about 200 or 300 people wrapped all the way around the building, waiting to get a trolley at this time. This building houses a rather large snack bar, ticket office and gift shop mind you. If you ask me, 1230 is just too early to leave a place like this that has so much to offer. The people here wanted to get as much fun time as possible in port and who can blame them (me?)

Anyway, the line did move pretty quickly and by about 1250 I was onboard a trolley for the 15-minute ride back to the ship. Of course the ship parks on Navy land, so all entrants are required to show government issued picture id and ship card to be let through the gates. Base security checks this very closely and the trolley is not allowed to enter until everyone has been checked and OK'd. As you know, there is always one in a group that screws it up for everyone. A couple people somewhere onboard were apparently acting the fool and making smart dopey comments about the whole security process, which of course just slowed down the process and irked our driver. The rules are simple, painless to follow and are there for a reason. Just behave and follow them and we will all be back to the ship soon enough. Since the ride back is all through Navy land, no pictures of any sort can be taken so unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the ship from here. The trolley got back at about 1310 and rather unsurprisingly, there were still two or three trolleys full of people that arrived after us. Obviously they do this all the time and know the process of getting everybody back takes a while and they won't leave anyone who was back to the trolley station in time, it is just still ridiculous that the day is so short there.

One advantage of having a cabin near the gangway and on a lower deck is that you don't have to wait for an elevator to let you back upstairs after getting back on the ship if there is a long wait for one. Just walk up a flight of stairs and you are there. Once back onboard I went up to watch our sailaway, which happened at about 1340. It was very windy here today and as we powered away I got a nice picture of the Dream, which was at Mallory Square and is probably twice as big as the Ecstasy. We were once again escorted away from the coastline by a Coast Guard boat but the seas were so rough the Coast Guard gentleman manning the artillery at the front had to harness himself into position as the boat was really rocking. I have to note that a gentleman playing bagpipes played Amazing Grace as we left the dock, which is always a nice touch. I guess it is some sort of maritime tradition but the first time I had ever noticed it was when we were leaving St. John last June on the Glory. Too bad I didn't get a picture. We watched the last views of US soil for the next few days fade away and were on our way to Cozumel, Mexico. Included is a shot of the Dream and sailaway from Key West:

Hope you all enjoy so far and part two of day two is upcoming shortly.

Here is part two of day two. We had just left Key West and were off to spend the next 24 hours at sea on our way to Cozumel, Mexico.

So, after the festivities of sailaway from Key West, I settle in and get some mussels and beef with flat noodles and mei fun from Mongolian Wok. The line was not long and I passed the time by explaining the process of ordering to a nice lady who had never experienced this phenomenon before. She thought it was neat and ordered something that I am sure she enjoyed because I saw her in line the very next day LOL! Anyway, I do have to say today's stuff was the least tasty of all four days. The noodles were dry and seemed to not be boiled long enough and the beef was very tough. I moved onto the lido buffet and today happened to be Caribbean delight day. Yum. In my opinion this is the only good lido lunch buffet spread on four day cruises. So I settled down with a coke and got some rice, island stew, seafood fritters and and jerk chicken thighs and actually got seconds when I was done with the first serving. Very tasty. I also helped myself to some fresh fruit and a piece of really rich chocolate cake from the buffet. It's funny that it is hard to get a piece of pineapple or watermelon because that is always the first thing people go for when they put the spread out and if you don't get it right away, all that is left is honeydews and canteloupe which nobody actually wants.

So, after lunch I walked around the ship some more and did a few laps on the walking track on the sports deck. Of course I had a cup of hot chocolate with me during this. The Carnival hot chocolate is out of this world good. I don't know how they mix it or with what but I can drink a dozen cups of it in any weather anytime. Think about the absurdity of hot chocolate while playing miniature golf on the top deck of a cruise ship in 90 degree weather. HAHA. Anyway. I played a round of mini golf here just to kinda check out the course and it was probably the toughest cruise ship mini golf course I have played. It is nine holes and was also in the best condition I have ever seen a Carnival mini golf course in. I guess it had just recently been updated. Anyone can play 24 hours a day, just go to the city sports park on top deck and pick up a putter and ball and play. Lots of fun. I played this course quite a few times during this cruise.

I then went downstairs to the photo gallery to check out my embarkation photo from the day before and decided I didn't want it. I wasn't planning on buying any overpriced pictures anyway. They do have deals for if you are traveling on a special occasion or something with a large group that can work out but not for me this time. Now, I planned on going to the taste bar on promenade deck, which is open from 1730 to around 2000 certain days but yeah, I didn't make it up there for the little snack surprise they had waiting. I took a nap instead. That is what you get for going back to the cabin just to relax for a "little while." I also missed the 1700 sports trivia that they had scheduled for one of the lounges. It happens. I had a busy day already ya know. One of these days I WILL win a ship on a stick. Just not this time lol.

So, I wake up and WOW, it is like 1930. Man, I slept for 3 hours??? Whatever, I guess I needed it. I am a night owl and would be up late again tonight anyway. So, I get ready for dinner, and tonight is formal night so I had to clean up a little extra for tonight's seating. I donned my quasi-nice shirt and pants and managed to get this picture of the sunset out my cabin window before I left for dinner about 2015. I meant to go upstairs and get this from lido or sun deck but I was running late for dinner and didn't want them to actually have to enforce the 15-minutes late to dinner means you aren't actually getting dinner rule on lobstah night so I did this instead.

So, we had a very nice sitdown dinner tonight. My new buddy from the day before was there and two more solo folks showed up. They were very nice and we got to know each other over dinner. I got beef barley soup, lobster tail and St. Louis spare ribs as I always do on formal night. I actually like the ribs more than lobster but both are good. I actually like the black tiger shrimp they include with the lobster more than the lobster itself sometimes. Just wish they wouldn't offer both on the same night. And they need to figure out how to serve freshly cooked fries with entrees or just don't serve them at all. The inedible fries were the only bad part of this dinner. I got wcmc and black forest cake tonight for dessert. Very good as usual. I didn't get any pics of my food because I didn't want to be rude to my tablemates by snapping photos of food at the table. I mean, who does that? Just know they were good and the bar service was around to get me my coca-cola refills as soon as my glass was empty. I think they did their that's amore routine tonight and as usual, some of the wait staff gets more into it than others. I guess it gets very old to them after a while. About 2200 we all went our separate ways and I stopped by the cabin again to get ready for the comedy shows at 2300.

Upon arriving back at the cabin, I got a nice surprise - a cute towel animal to add to the family and a free ticket to the Martina McBride concert scheduled for the next evening in Cozumel. Apparently the concert did not completely sell out at $20 a ticket or $100 for VIP meet and greet and front row access so they tried to "paper the house" with free tickets for platinums and above. Nice gesture as I wasn't planning on paying for a ticket.

So, I went to the 2300 show and it was comedian Jorge Solano. I had seen him on a past Carnival cruise and he is really funny. I like his style of comedy and the way he includes the audience in his routine. He always kinda plays to the crowd which is cool. At 2330, the other comedian, Ronnie Bullard appeared on stage. He has a slightly, more southern style of humor but he was quite funny as well. Good combo on this cruise. After the show at 0000, I went upstairs and got some midnight grill food and drink. Hot dogs, fries, pizza, soda, hot chocolate, etc. Due to limits on how many pics you can post at once, I will include my food pics in the next post. Carnival pizza is open all night and is usually pretty good. When compared to pizza back home it is average but it is ok for midnight on a cruise. Same with the grilled dogs and fries.

After this, I took a dip in the lido hot tub. Yes, Carnival lido deck hot tubs are open until 0200 now! They used to close at midnight, even if they were busy and something was going on up on deck. The pool still closes at midnight as does the serenity hot tub setup but it is nice to be able to go relax in the hot tub a little later at night now. BIG thumbs up to CCL for finally doing that for us night owls. So, about 0130 I headed back to the cabin for the night and got to sleep as tomorrow was a day to sleep in because we would not be arriving to Cozumel until early afternoon.

Enjoy and day 3: Cozumel is coming soon!

Food pictures from Day 2: Late Night:

Pepperoni pizza with oregano sprinkled on and 24-hour ice cream cone. Can get either soft serve or frozen yogurt in a cone or bowl anytime. Once in a while I mix some ice cream with hot chocolate.

Grilled beef hot dogs and fries from the late night grill on lido deck. They also offer this stuff at lunch. Also offered late at night are burgers, tortilla chips, chicken fingers and grilled chicken with cookies for dessert. The fantasy class ships can still offer these features as there is no blue iguana cantina or Guy's burger joint on these ships. Sadly, these fine hot dog delicacies can only be found steamed at the deli on ships with guy's and blue iguana cantinas for some reason now unless they have changed this recently. I also ordered a punchliner drink at the comedy show this evening and this was the last little bit that I was savoring over late night chow. It is strong. One will give you a serious buzz. Two would probably punch you out but I didn't dare find out for myself. It is pictured next to the hot dog and fries. It is a mix of blue curacao, beefeater gin, skyy vodka, something else and some fruit juice. Well worth the $10 and if you order it at the bar, slip the bartender a few singles and they make it even more potent for you.

That's it for now, more to come.

Enjoying your review so far!

Going to be there in Nov for the LadyA show please continue.

Did you have the VIP? If so can you tell us about it? Picture etc. Did they allow autographs etc...

Thanks!:)

Going to be there in Nov for the LadyA show please continue.

 

Did you have the VIP? If so can you tell us about it? Picture etc. Did they allow autographs etc...

 

Thanks!:)

I didn't have the vip so I'm not sure how that all worked out but I had heard it was pretty disorganized. I overheard people saying the meet and greet was at a bad time and that it was not properly communicated to everyone when and where it would be but again, I didn't directly experience it so I really don't know. I know the entire band only boarded the ship in early afternoon as they said they started the day in Nashville, plus you could see the convoy of vehicles drive out on the dock soon after arrival.

I was seated in the upper deck, but I still got a nice seat with a decent view of the action. I believe the doors opened at 2000 and they recommended people arrive by 2030 but I got there around 2040 and plenty of seats were still available. I did take a few pictures of the show and I will post them in my next installment, if I get to it tonight or later on. I feel it was a good experience and if you are going to the lady antebellum show it should be enjoyable if it was anything like the McBride show. And yes, I am very surprised they allowed people to take pictures and record short snippets as I thought they would frown upon that kind of thing. I will discuss my concert experience in depth later on.

Thanks for reading!

nice read... one of these days I need to cruise to Key West.

nice perk with the free tickets

Enjoying your review so far!

Thank you very much. I enjoy sharing my experiences with others, as I have picked up stuff about cruising that I never knew about before from other people here. It is fun to do these reviews if nothing else. We all get to re-live these adventures again during boring in-between cruise land time.

nice read... one of these days I need to cruise to Key West.

 

nice perk with the free tickets

Thanks for checking out my review. Key West is so unique if nothing else. I don't think I would like living there because it is far separated from everything and it is almost always summer, not to mention the ridiculous cost of living. The guy I talked to told me owning a modest parcel there costs close to a million dollars but renting is only about $1500 a month. Its why so many people rent month to month there I guess. But outside of those problems, it is really a nice place with lots of history. People from artists to military men to presidents have called that place home over the years. It really takes more than just a day to get the whole experience of key west for sure.

Here is part three of my Ecstasy 4-day solo adventure from May 12-May 16. This day we were in Cozumel. Quite a few things happened this day, here is a recap with some photos to go along with the story and review of events.

DAY THREE: COZUMEL, MEXICO

So, day three of this particular 4-day sailing took me to Cozumel, an island resort state on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It is deep in the Gulf of Mexico, and is about an hour or so by ferry from Cancun. I have been here a few times in the past, and on this sailing we are scheduled for an early afternoon arrival.

So, being a deep and late sleeper, days like this are great for me on cruises. I don't have to get up too early and won't miss anything if I sleep in. So, I slept in. Around 1100 I woke up and wandered up to the lido deck to get some late risers breakfast. I got the usual, and went outside to the outdoor seating area on lido. If I am not mistaken, the ship docks on the northwestern side of the island, so you kind of go between the mainland and Cozumel island on your way up to docking. You are close enough to land on both sides to see both mainland and the island. I watched us approach the port and begin to slow down when the cruise director, Robin gave us an update of our ETA to Cozumel and what the day's activities would be at around 1230.

As I relaxed over breakfast, we saw quite a few large sea mammals and fish jump around the side of the ship and a bunch of folks found this to be pretty awesome as they watched the action. I think I saw a rather large shark swimming near the surface of the water right near the side of the ship, which was cool and kinda scary at the same time. Apparently there are lots of sharks around there. I actually went on a glass bottom boat tour a few years ago there and obviously the sharks don't get that close to land for us to see them then but there are tons and tons of different species of sea life in that area. So, we get to a few miles from land and begin to make our left base turn for final approach to the dock. I got a picture of this. One of the MSC ship family was at the downtown dock, a few miles up the shoreline on this day and was easily visible from a few miles out.

We parked at the dock in Cozumel a few minutes early, and for the first time ever that I can remember, we were the only ship here today. Very slow time of the year for them here I guess. I watched this whole process unfold and then went and walked around upstairs some. I also went to Mongolian wok for lunch and the line was not too long as people were beginning to get off the ship for the day's activities. Mongolian wok is only open until 1500 or so, and it wouldn't still be there when I arrived back from my excursions off the boat so I went around 1400 to get lunch. I got beef and chicken with mei fun noodles, peas and corn and schezwan sauce, what else? It was much better today. I saw my tablemate from the main dining room in line there also this day. He said he didn't even get off the ship as he had been there before and just elected to chill out for the day onboard.

So, after lunch I go back to the cabin to shower and put on clean clothes and went to explore Cozumel some. I passed Three Amigos and Fat Tuesdays, which are the first restaurants you pass as you exit the gift shop at the end of the pier. I went to Threee Amigos on a cruise last year and ddon't be fooled by the neat outside and the little photo-op donkey out front. The place is horrible. Subpar quality and service and overpriced drinks and food. Never been to Fat Tuesdays but it probably isn't too much better. Of course, in the port area there are tons and tons of little shops that all want to sell you the same souvenirs and t-shirts, etc. There are a few high end jewelers there also. Shopping is not my thing so I just ignored the merchants as they all yelled for people to go in their places and shop.

Beyond that is the entry to the town, where you can get private taxis, vans, etc that will take you anywhere you want to go on the island. They clearly advertise prices and all these vehicles are city-licensed so they are all legit and you really don't have to worry about negotiating prices too much with the drivers. I went on a cab tour of the island last year on a cruise, and it was great. I would actually recommend doing business with these folks instead of the Carnival tour people unless there is really something you want to do and only a Carnival tour can take you there. The money stays local there also. It is a pretty prosperous and safe island also, although there are obviously some lower income areas there if you look hard enough.

So, I chose to just walk around on my own today. I had thought about riding out to Chakkanaab state beach or Mr. Sancho's but I am not a huge beach person and I didn't want to spend all that money to go out and hang at a beach in the extreme heat when really, there are free beaches all throughout the Caribbean and right at home in NJ. I got this picture of the welcome sign to the port, which is called Puerta Maya.

So I walk up the main road, and I forget the name. But it is an average island port downtown beachside road. I walked northbound, just to see what kind of stuff is up there and to be honest, it is not that exciting. Again, if you like shopping and negotiating prices for jewelry and stuff like that, you could have some fun but that's not me. I do think some of the people get a little aggressive the further up the road you get also. I am a decent sized guy so it didn't bother me but be wary if you want to walk by yourself in that area. It would be very easy to get intimidated. They also love to try to rent scooters and jeeps here. I never have rented one there but I knew some folks who did once and they said the vehicles weren't in the best condition and their experience wasn't great. Not sure if that is typical of all those businesses but whatever. It was getting really hot so after walking about a mile I turned around and went back. I just felt like walkin'. I'm tired now. I'm gonna go back, to paraphrase Forrest Gump. lol. So, long story short. Unless you want to rent transportation or go on an excursion, there really isn't much to do outside that particular port area in Cozumel. The port that the MSC ship was parked at further north is in a busier area and there is more to do there but it is too far to walk to.

Anyway, I walked around some more and just went to the place I have been to before and know is good, Pancho's Backyard. It is all the way up at the north end of the port area but it is good. They have a gift shop there that does have some unique Mexican souvenirs for sale also. I actually bought a few things from there in the past as gifts for people. I went in and sat down at the outside dining area. The place wasn't all that crowded but who cares? More open seats for me to choose from. I ordered a margarita and some black bean soup and real Mexican salsa and listened to the guys play music across the little alleyway behind the restaurant. The total was about $15 or so with tip for the good service for the waiter who took care of me. Some photos.

I sat down on a beach chair under some palm trees, on the makeshift beach they have and looked out at the ship. If you are here at sunset in the winter, you can get some really good photos of the ship with the sun going down in the background if you are there at the right time. It was hot and humid here and since I was still recovering from this past winter, the heat was getting to me. You can see me sweating pretty heavily in this selfie. I was proud of this pic, sums up vacation perfectly.

So, after a little more aimless wandering, I headed back to the ship. Make sure you have a government issued photo ID to go along with your ship card to get through the security at the port. Those guys look like they mean business also. haha. Wouldn't want to mess with them. Anyway, I showed my credentials to the gentleman and was allowed through. You have to go back through the gift shop on the way back to the ship, and of course they sell everything from duty free alcohol to candy to perfume to jewelry here. Nothing that really caught my eye though, surprise. Anyway, I board the ship at about 1630 and stop by lido to get some hot chocolate and a hot dog and burger. It was between mealtimes so I was a little hungry. After that, I hung out on the waterslide deck and took a picture of the port and surrounding areas from the perspective of the top of the world (cruise ship in this case).

According to the funtimes, there was to be another sports trivia at 1700 on promenade in one of the lounges. Of course I read incorrectly which lounge that actually was, and wondered why I was sitting in a comfy couch chair and there was nobody else there for the trivia. I later went back and checked the funtimes and found out why there was nobody else at the contest. I went to the wrong lounge, of course. Whatever. Maybe next cruise. I did catch a peek of the McBride band practicing in the punchliner lounge however.

Afterward, I went downstairs to the photo gallery to check out the picture I got in the mdr with the pirate the evening before. It wasn't too good so I again discarded it and went on my way. I retired to the room again to get a shower and get ready for the concert, scheduled for 2100.

Tonight was the usual open seating for everyone at dinner, and I just didn't feel like going to sit with a whole new bunch of strangers over a dinner that I would have to rush through so I could get a good seat at the concert. So for the second time ever, I skipped mdr dinner and got some stuff from the lido buffet. Bad decision. Their lido dinner menu is awful. Barely found anything I would even want to eat there. I got something though and headed down to the theater at about 2030 for the show. I have a few pics that I want to include from the concert so I will continue in a new post shortly. Hope you are enjoying so far.

Keep it coming. I'm really enjoying your review.

Keep it coming. I'm really enjoying your review.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. This is my third Carnival cruise review on here and I would like to think I have gotten better each time and this one is my best. I am glad you are enjoying reading my review and the next installment is on the way as I am working on writing it up now.

Here is the evening of Wednesday, Cozumel day and the third day of the cruise. This evening featured a Martina McBride Carnival Live concert and a late departure from Cozumel.

DAY THREE: EVENING ACTIVITIES

So, where did we leave off? I had just gotten done with lido buffet dinner and it was time to go to the concert. The invitation I received in my cabin said attendees should arrive by 2030 for a 2100 showtime. The theater opened at 2000. I got there between 2030 and 2040 and that was more than enough time to get settled in and get a decent seat on the upper level of the theater. I suspect they wanted people to show up early so they could sell more drinks to the waiting audience but hey, conspiracies, conspiracies.

Anyway, final sound and lighting checks were completed and at 2100 the show began. It began with Martina playing a few of her older songs and introducing herself and a few bandmembers. Throughout the show she introduced each and every band member and their background within her traveling group. She has a 10-member traveling entourage, which includes drummer, guitarists, background singers, etc. Really elaborate. She surrounds herself with some really talented people. I will say I didn't know a whole lot about her past songs but she really presented well. She followed up with a few cover songs and explained why these songs had special meaning to her. She also mentioned later that week would mark her 26th wedding anniversary. She refused to say her age but she encouraged everyone to google it if they were truly interested. LOL. The set lasted about an hour and a half and the last two songs she played were This one's for the girls and Independence Day. I know both these songs. haha. And of course, after thanking the audience for coming out and making the small venue show special, they headed off stage. And then, of course, after the crowd was on their feet chanting "ENCORE, ENCORE," they came back out and played another song or two to end in style. Left everybody with a really good positive feeling as they left the theater. Here are a few pictures from my vantage point:

Well worth the free tickets I got and the time I spent there. In hindsight, I believe I would pay $20 to see a show like this again in the future if Carnival continues the program in the future. That went for my platinum gift and I will admit, this was a better gift than the usual tervis tumbler or beach bag that they have for platinums. I have enough of those and this was special and unique. Good going Carnival on this one. I have been very critical of CCL for their cutbacks lately but they did OK here.

So, after the show I went up to lido to get some hot dogs and burgers along with a soft drink because I was still hungry from the yummy dinner I didn't get earlier. I got some hot chocolate afterward, and headed up to lido to chill out for a while. This was Mexican deck party and midnight buffet night. I like to hang around on lido for the deck parties to take in the atmosphere but I am not big on dancing. So I went upstairs, walked around some listened to music, and played some mini golf. Interestingly enough, there were others up there playing along with me. I thought I would be the only one crazy enough to play mini golf at 2300 on deck party night on the cruise ship. I went around the course a few times and headed back downstairs to lido.

You would think they are like, giving food away when they put the buffet out. Lines too long to wait in. So I hung out on the outer deck on lido and checked out the process of offloading all the band equipment. Boy, am I a geek or what? lol. They offloaded probably 15,000 lbs if not more of a/v equipment, band equipment, etc in huge crates. Massive operation. I would figure they would have to charter a freighter plane just to come down there to get all that stuff back to the mainland but I really have no idea how they handled that. Anyway, that took a good hour or so and I of course got a picture of all that hardware. I wasn't the only one who was in awe of all that either. Plenty of other people were watching the process unfold as well.

So, after the line got shorter at the Mexican buffet, I went in and got some food. They had the typical. Fruit, tacos, salsa, etc. Not bad but not the greatest. About 0000 I went back to the cabin to change to my swim trunks. Remember I mentioned earlier that the hot tubs are open until 0200 on lido nowadays, at least on this ship. So, they still closed the pool at 0000 and believe me, the 20 or so people who were in there didn't want to get out. The staff had quite the time getting them all out. And of course, these hot tubs can only really handle about 8-10 people each so both tubs were well over that when I came back to lido. Not being a person who likes to be crowded and cramped together with other people while I am trying to relax, I went upstairs to the sun deck and just chilled out on a lounger for a while, and watched us depart from Cozumel. I would say we left somewhere around 0040. Early departure, which served to help us the next day when we had quite an interesting thing happen to us....more on that in the next installment.

So, come about 0100, the party is over and the hot tubs empty out enough where I can get in there and relax a little bit. I was the only single person in the tub I think. No problems with couples chilling out but it made me feel kinda out of place. Perhaps if I find a girl who loves to cruise as much as I do someday, I won't have that problem anymore. But we can all wish, right? I still had a good time until getting out of the tub around 0150. I got another Pibb and headed back to the cabin to get some rest after this eventful day. Of course I got another cute towel animal and I arranged this to make a little family. Nice.

So, I drift off to sleep while attempting to get some idea of what went on in the world today by watching CNN International and trying to translate the Spanish captions in the news reports to English sometime around 0230. That, folks, is the end of day three. Day four was a sea day and was quite an eventful one. That segment and my final overall comments and thoughts are coming next. Enjoy!

Enjoying your review! Looking forward to hearing all about your day at sea. :)

 

 

So, I drift off to sleep while attempting to get some idea of what went on in the world today by watching CNN International and trying to translate the Spanish captions in the news reports to English sometime around 0230. That, folks, is the end of day three. Day four was a sea day and was quite an eventful one. That segment and my final overall comments and thoughts are coming next. Enjoy!

Please don't keep us waiting too long!:D

I am loving your review!

Also love your use of the 24hr clock:) I am retired airline employee, now 10 years into my second career in life, and still I only use the 24 hr clock, and my company still gives me heck for submitting my hours in that manner. I told them to get over it, and get used to the way time should be recorded. Less confusion that way, than with am and pm:D

All that aside...I am really enjoying your review, and agree that there is never enough time in Key West.

I am loving your review!

 

Also love your use of the 24hr clock:) I am retired airline employee, now 10 years into my second career in life, and still I only use the 24 hr clock, and my company still gives me heck for submitting my hours in that manner. I told them to get over it, and get used to the way time should be recorded. Less confusion that way, than with am and pm:D

 

All that aside...I am really enjoying your review, and agree that there is never enough time in Key West.

Thanks for checking it out. I always go with the 24 hr military clock as it is also what I am accustomed to working off of. My phone, wristwatch and computer all have the military time on them. It does make more sense as there is no confusion with am or pm when telling time that way. Not to mention a lot of businesses print military time on receipts and stuff.

Anyway, I understand why they do the key west visit first and I have discussed that in other reviews but I really wish there was something they could do to extend the time there just a little bit at the least.

I will get to the last installment later tonight when I can get a hold of all my photos to post along with the story and I get some time to just sit around and write with no other distractions around me. I'm definitely looking forward to finishing this review up for everyone who is patiently waiting.

Please don't keep us waiting too long!:D

Yes, we surely saw a few things that you just don't expect to see on the way back home to Miami. I will hopefully get to finishing this thing up later tonight when I can get some peace and quiet and sit down and think for a little while. I also have quite a few observations from the ship itself and the overall experience and I will include that after finishing up the story of my adventure. Thanks for reading and glad you are enjoying.