cruisingwith4littles

We sailed on the ecstasy last week, we were on a 7 day to Amber Cove, Grand Turk and HMC. The cd said that the ecstasy does six 5-day sailings, then one 7 day sailing.

We had an amazing vacation. My family of 6 found the ship to be clean, comfortable and most importantly FUN! I think it was nice to be dealing with a smaller amount of passengers, both on the ship and in port. We truly didn't miss any of the bells and whistles that newer ships offer. We weren't bored for a second, and the staff was incredibly helpful and always friendly.

Does anyone know if your check-in time is just a recommendation in Charleston?

I love this! As a mom of 4, I tend to worry about how my kids are affecting other people's ability to enjoy themselves, whether it's at a restaurant, a party or a vacation. While they are typically well behaved, and we do our best not to put them in situations where they'll be expected to act in a way that is more mature than they're developmentally able to handle, kids are still kids, and unpredictable things happen. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about intermingling with families on vacation!

Just wanted to add that we recently moved into a cul de sac of five houses, all of whom had kids who were grown and moved away. Every single neighbor has commented about how wonderful it is to see and hear the kids playing outside, enjoying the seasons!

Thanks! I'm sure this is going to be a highlight of my 11yo's trip!

Thanks for all of the info! By any chance did you happen to notice if life size chess is available on board?

Can anyone tell me if Ecstasy has the life-sized chess game? My son is looking forward to playing it and I need to manage his expectations [emoji4]

We're on a 7 day spring break (late March) Ecstasy cruise as well. We booked this sailing over a year ago, however the cruise was originally scheduled to be on the Fantasy. A few weeks after we booked, carnival switched ships for this sailing. Most of the Ecstasy reviews I have come across refer to 3-5 day sailings, and from what I've heard, those tend to be more or a party crowd. Just keep that in mind when you're reading reviews about the ambience onboard.

Thanks for this review. I had been considering this excursion until a few weeks ago, when I came across a review that looked exactly like yours.

Looks like a port day for us!

We're scheduled for a 7 day cruise on ecstasy this March. We're also a family of 6, and chose this ship because of all the same reasons you mentioned.

I, too, am feeling a bit discouraged about the safety and condition of the ship, and am really appreciating all of the reassuring posts!

I did a pretty good amount of research before picking this ship, so I was aware it was older, and sometimes referred to as "run down". But what ones opinion of "run down" is may differ from mine...considering that my children's standard of "fancy" is pretty easy to achieve [emoji1]

Safety issues never came up in my research, so until I hear differently, I'll assume that the elevator incident is just an awful, tragic accident.

Momof3cruisers...is that tour through Carnival?

Thanks so much for the info about your pool day! Sounds like it was a great time, hopefully our day goes as smoothly as yours!

I'm still not thrilled about the idea of being in a country we've never been to before and not taking the opportunity to have a look around, but the lack of information and reviews about the excursions makes me hesitant to spend our valuable vacation time and money.

Sounds like a day at the port is what it's going to be for us...Thanks again!

Thanks for sharing!! Did you use your s&s card to pay for the zip line and food or did you need cash?

Well, "concerned" probably isn't the best word to use, as I'm fully aware that just being on a cruise vacation in a beautiful port with my family is really no cause for concern, I was hoping to be more confidently planning our day.

We'll be in AC in Mar 2016, and was hoping that we would've seen more reviews flowing in by now. I'm finding it hard to find any excursions that suit what we are interested in. I was considering a beach day at Coconut Cove, but the few reviews I've read have referenced the fact that the long drive (which I don't mind... I try to always take any opportunity for my kids to see a new area), isn't worth the short amount of time spent at the beach. None of the other excursions are really appealing to the combo of fun/relaxing/interesting that we're personally looking for, and I'd have a hard time spending money or committing a day of vacation to an excursion that has no reviews. And the feedback I have hard about nonstop timeshare sales pressure during excursions sounds like quite a headache.

So I guess it's possible that we'll end up at the port/pool all day. I feel like solid info and feedback is hard to come by. What restaurants are there? What's the price range? Are the water sports rentals close in proximity to the pool? How long are the rentals for? Trying to figure out if a pool cabana makes sense....we have 4 kids, would 6 chairs by the pool by hard to come by if we decided against a cabana? Would a cabana make sense if we're up and moving the whole day? Is the included food the same type as what's offered in the HMC cabanas? Is it possible for my family of 6 to try and snag a cab for a quick tour? Is this a reasonable price?

So basically I'm pleading for any and all info, even if you haven't been yet and are still planning your Amber Cove day....share what info you have, what you're considering, or what you've ruled out. Just throw it all at me!!!! I'm a "planner" by nature, and this is starting to drive me nuts!

Your excitement is exciting [emoji1]

What's your suggestion for spending the day in port at Amber Cove for families? We'll be there next March with our 4 kids, age 5-14.

I guess I should add that we like excursions that are easy to get to and enjoy! Though I'd love a tour of puerto plata, I don't think my kids would be on board with that, and we've promised that this cruise vacation will be all about fun!! What's your opinion on what's looking fun for families?

My family of 6 (two adults, 4 kids) will be dividing up into two staterooms for our cruise. If I book a cabana under only one of our staterooms, will we all be able to use it? I'm not looking to "sneak" anyone in, but I also don't want to have pay more than I have to.

We're pretty much new to the cruising world, definitely new to trying to snag some gift cards!!

Quick question...our cruise isn't until mar 2016, will I be able to use our gift cards online or by phone to book shore excursions before our trip or do I need to wait to visit the shore excursion desk once onboard?

Thanks for the replies, Sounds like a fun day!

Just to clarify...the description on the website makes it seem like the excursion boat pulls up to the beach, and this is where you'll spend your time, interacting with the stingrays AND snorkeling, but one of the above posts states that they re-boarded the boat that then took them to a different snorkeling spot. Given that at least one, possible two of my kids will most likely not be interested in snorkeling off a boat, this may be a deal breaker for us [emoji20]

Also, just realized that this post probably belongs in the Grand Turk forum, I'm not sure how to move it??

I'm looking for some feedback on how family friendly this excursion is to help me try and figure out if it would be a good match for us!

Here's a little background: my husband and I will be cruising with our 4 kids, ages 5-14. We've only cruised once before about 10 years ago, and only had two littles at the time. We didn't do any planned shore excursions, just got off the ship in the ports and kind of wandered around...total bust. This time around I'm trying to be much more organized when it comes to planning.

So as far as the stingray encounter....I like that it's an organized activity, (we'll be doing beach sitting in half moon cay, and maybe also in Amber Cove), so this would be a nice change of pace. I also get the sense that the beach right off the ship gets crowded quickly and is hit or miss. We have no interest in hanging out at margaritaville...just not our thing. I like the idea of the stingray excursion boat ride that will take us straight to the shore of the beach, I think we'll all enjoy that. Two of my kids are looking forward to snorkeling, and one of the others will probably enjoy checking out the stingrays that go straight to the shore. One of my kids will most likely want nothing to do with interacting with the stingrays and if I know her as well as I think I do, she won't even stick a pinky toe in the water once she sets eyes on even one stingray. I'm not too worried about that...it's her usual MO and I'm used to handling it. (Good times.)

I really, really don't want to split our family up on excursions. Is the beach itself conducive to those who just want to hang out for a few hours? I notice that there are no lounge chairs, which isn't a big deal to us, and of course we'd pack snacks and small toys/games to keep us busy.

I'm also always hesitant to bring my brood to an activity/restaurant that may not be geared specifically towards young kids...for the benefit of other customers enjoying their experience as well as for the stress level of myself and my kids. I think this excursion may be a good idea for us, just looking for a little more feedback before I shell out what will be a nice chunk of money for this day!

We booked Mar 19, 16 on the Fantasy out of Charleston, but recently got word that the ship has been switched to the Ecstasy. Kind of a bummer since I spent quite a bit of time researching before booking, but there don't seem to be any major differences between the two.