Jump to content

Brief Ecstasy Review from New Years Cruise


Kaye745
 Share

Recommended Posts

I don't post much, but thought I'd give a brief review of our recent cruise on the Ecstasy out of Charleston. This was a very last minute booking (less than 30 days) to celebrate my daughter's graduation from college and her commissioning as a 2nd Lt into the US Army. She is branching into Armor, and reports to Fort Benning, GA this month. It was also my son's 18th birthday on New Years Eve, so we had lots of celebrating to do. We had booked this cruise because it was within driving distance from Virginia, and had also sailed Ecstasy before and had a good experience. We were well aware it's a smaller, older ship, so didn't expect any bells and whistles. Each of the kids brought a friend, so we were 6 in all. My husband and I had an oceanview room while the kids shared an inside. Because of the last minute booking, we had OV guarantee, and we ended up on separate decks from the inside room which was what we expected.

 

We spent the night in Charleston at the Comfort Suites Isle of Palms. I'd highly recommend this hotel. We were able to leave our cars (we had 2), and the rooms were very large. We were able to get 2 suites for $119 each with no additional costs to leaving the cars. The area was very safe, and there were many restaurants and shops within walking distance. They don't offer a shuttle, but helped us to arrange a van the next day which was $50 for all 6 of us to the cruise port.

 

Charleston port is very confusing with parking and drop-off and I was very glad we had arranged transportation and didn't drive in ourselves. That being said, embarkation was smooth and fast. We did not purchase FTTF, but it had printed on all our documents which is why I think it went so fast. They kept putting us in that line even after my husband questioned it. We did not have FTTF printed on our cards when they were issued. Don't know why it was on our documents, but I'll take all the good karma I can get.

 

We have cruised on Celebrity, RCI and Carnival. We had a great time on this cruise, but there were some issues. We're on vacation and we tend to go with the flow... really don't care if it takes a bit longer to get a drink...where am I going? Don't get a towel animal...no big deal. My husband and I started out in cabin a cabin on R deck, typical OV cabin on the lowest deck. We never saw our room steward. I've never been on any cruise where the steward did not introduce themselves. We left a note for him after the first day to see if we could get an ice bucket for the bottle of wine we had brought. The ice showed up, but never saw the steward. We only got 1 time per day service for the room, never asked if we wanted AM or PM or 2 x/day. We're fine with only once per day.

 

The second night of the cruise, we heard loud banging all night from below us sounding like someone kept slamming a door. The next day we let guest services know because we didn't hear it the first night. They looked into it and said the door on the gray water line was not closing correctly and they were trying to fix it, but the noise would continue. We didn't ask for it (we really were just concerned about a new noise) but they offered to move us to a different room which was very nice. We ended up in M177. The room steward did introduce himself here, but only saw him the initial day, and received AM service only. At night, they just slid the next day's papers under the door.

 

When we were leaving Half Moon Cay, they called an Alpha code which turned out to be a small fire in the engine room. The staff and captain kept everyone informed and seemed to handle it appropriately. After the gray water door issue though, my husband did wonder if the ship was falling apart!

 

We enjoyed the food in the dining room, buffet not so much. We're just not buffet people, but it's nice it's there when you have 18 year old boys with you that are always wanting to eat. We had any time dining, which we don't really like. We prefer the late dining and having the same waiter each night. When we boarded, we did go to the Maitre D to see if we could change. I was suprised how snooty he was. He looked us up in the system to see where we'd be on a wait list for late dining. He said "You booked less than a month ago. You're lucky we have any place for you." I get it, we were last minute, but don't get an attitude. We weren't demanding anything and knew it was a long shot, but I thought it was okay to ask. We also were going to surprise our son with a birthday cake on New Year's Eve, and it's nice if you have the same waiter to coordinate with. My husband asked if there was anyway that we could have the same waiter even with anytime dining and we were willing to wait. We were told flat out "No".

 

That being said, we had great waiters, we were able to arrange the cake for my son, and there was nothing I ate that I didn't enjoy. I just didn't think we deserved the snotty attitude because we booked so late. We were waiting for my daughter's orders to know when she'd be available.

 

They had a number of events for Veterans and a recognition for the military which was nice. My husband (Retired Armor officer) and daughter attended a couple.

 

Overall, enjoyed all the ports (we'd visited them all before), very talented comedians and I really enjoyed the magic show. Production show was "meh". They had an awesome band near Metropolis Bar, but hated that it was in a smoking area. Went to the nightclub with my daughter and friend, which was fun and I didn't make too much of a fool of myself. Had great bartenders. If you're on this ship, look for Orlando on the pool deck. He will set you up!

 

We were late in disembarking because Charleston had snow! We didn't leave the ship until almost 10am. We had an early number(7) had wanted to be on the road by 9, but they handled it well. Breezed thru customs, got a van, picked up our cars and was on the road by 11:00.

 

Overall, we had fun. Just a couple of minor issues, but the ship itself just felt tired. New Year's Eve was a blast, and it was nice to have the family together. I'll be glad to answer any questions about our experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I cannot believe they told you that you couldn't have the same waiter. We've always requested the same waiter (as long as we liked him or her) with YTD and never had an issue. When we go to eat, we simply ask "can we sit in such and suches section" and they always put us there. Maybe they can't put it in the computer, but you can always ask as you go into the MDR to sit in a certain section.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So glad the little things didn't ruin your cruise!! :-) And thank you to your family for their service!

 

I love it when I read reviews like this. You KNEW it was an older ship. You KNEW you booked late. You KNEW what to expect. And - though there were still some issues, you had a great cruise. There was a loud noise, you KNEW to bring it to Guest Relations. They fixed it. However - there is no excuse for the "snootiness" you encountered. Glad it still worked out in the end. I've read too many reviews where people do not have realistic expectations, and they just complain about things that either could have been avoided or were beyond the control of the cruise line.

 

I'm cruising in 2 days and though I've never sailed on Carnival, I'm well aware of what to expect on Ecstasy - and I'm going to have a great time!! :-)

 

Thanks again for your review!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes thank you for reporting back. We were also on this cruise and couldn't add much more. We did feel bad for the folks who needed to fly home only to find the airport closed. Yes the ship is old and needs attention, but our cabin steward, and dining room folks are like no other..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were on your cruise, too! We really enjoyed ourselves. Interestingly, really the one negative we experienced was also with the dining room. We had Your Time dining, and in all of our cruises, I have never seen such a line! We would get there before 5:30 each day...and the line was completely around the atrium! I felt like maybe they had overbooked Your Time....but since you said they couldn't get you into Late dining, that blows my theory. On our last day, they scheduled our "platinum party" from 5:15 - 6. That was a little annoying, since it ran right into dinner. By the time we got to the dining room, they gave us a pager and said it would be at least an hour. We ended up giving up and going to Lido. Disappointing.

 

Other than that, however, we had an awesome time. We had an AWESOME room steward (on E deck), and he was happy to do our room twice daily. He was also great on any special requests we had.

 

New Year's Eve was so fun! We had a great time with the balloon drop in the atrium at 11, and then midnight on Lido with tons of FREE champagne!!! Also, free champagne for several hours on Lido on embarkation day. (Yeah, I like free champagne).

 

Overall, great cruise...but I agree there were issues with the dining room. (We've sailed Ecstasy before, and didn't have issues previously).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Domergirl-

I think my favorite part was New Year's Eve. We usually just stay home, but it was so fun dancing on the lido deck, dressed up, and bringing in the New Year with a bunch of people. Free champagne isn't bad.

 

I did forget to add that there was lots of free champagne on this trip. Both Embarkation and New Years Eve.

 

Even though we had a few blips, didn't stop us from booking another cruise for next December (on a different ship). We would sail Ecstasy again as it was nice to drive to the port. I believe the Sunshine is moving to Charleston in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
I appreciate your insight and review. We leave in 4 days and I can't wait. This will be such a treat and I hope we just go with the flow as well as you.

Well, go with the flow we did. Even an injury only dented our fun a bit, but it was still a wonderful experience for the most part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did not purchase FTTF, but it had printed on all our documents which is why I think it went so fast. They kept putting us in that line even after my husband questioned it. We did not have FTTF printed on our cards when they were issued. Don't know why it was on our documents, but I'll take all the good karma I can get..

 

This happened to us last year! I'm pretty sure you are the first person to write about it happening to you too. It was pretty great.

 

Thanks for posting this review. Charleston is a lot closer to us than the Florida ports. I'm not crazy about the idea of sailing on the Ecstasy, but if they fix that door and fire that snooty headwaiter, it should be a good time. ;) Seriously, I'm agape at the idea that he would say something like that. Maybe, he's sleep deprived. I can be pretty cranky when I don't get my sleep.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for posting your review! It's been awhile since we were on the Ecstasy. Great review and glad you had a good time in spite of a few hiccups. I agree with your attitude about being on vacation and going with the flow. It's not always in my nature to be laid back but I really try to take it easy on vacation and let the little things slide. I am just grateful to be on vacation at all! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...