Carnival Ecstasy - December 26 to 30, 2017

My mom and I along with her good friend and her fiance decided to take a short cruise between Christmas and New Years. We booked it a few months out. I must say that this is the first four day that I have taken and it was very expensive compared to our other cruises, but I know that was due to it being a prime cruising week.

We left home at 6:30am and arrived at the Port about 10:20am. That was after a stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and a detour to Wal Mart since I forgot to pack my shirt for formal night! We had no trouble getting there along with very little traffic.

Once at the terminal, we were told that we could go ahead and drop our luggage off, pay for parking, and then come pack at 11 when they start parking and skip the general line since we already pre-paid. That is what we did. We pulled back to the entrance to the parking maze at 11am, our passes were checked, we were directed to our parking warehouse, boarded the bus for the 3 minute ride to the terminal, and were through security and checked in, and on board by 11:35! A lot of people seem to complain about embarkation at Charleston, but I love it!

I'm not going to give day by day, minute by minute details, but please feel free to ask if you have any questions!

We have port hole rooms, which we all vowed we will never do again due to the movement! The rooms were chilly when we boarded as it was only 50 degrees in Charleston. It was in the 60's shortly after sailing away!

We all had the Cheer's program. I'm not sure if we will get it again or not. We broke even, but I feel that we made our-self drink more just to break even. The first day on board, we met Rini, a bartender at the casino bar! She hooked us up with awesome drink and phenomenal service for our four days!

Over all, the food was good. If we didn't like something, we of course re-ordered something else. We were in the Wind Song dining room and had Michael and his gang as the wait staff, which all were great and provided excellent service!

The entertainment was typical. The show band that performed on the promenade deck was great! We saw both comedians almost every show. Al Katz was one of them, and his is one of my favorites out of 7 cruises, along with Just June, which we saw on our first cruise. We went to the Welcome Aboard show and the America Rock show, and I must say that we were really disappointed in both. Carnival is really lacking in the production shows! The love and marriage show on the other hand was a hoot! I'm sure that one couple may have not left as a couple after the show!

Nassau was our port of call. We didn't have any excusions planned for here. Once off the ship, we just took a Taxi to Cabbage beach on Paradise Island. We went a few chairs and an umbrella, and drink of coconuts! That was the life while it lasted. After three hours here, we took a cab back to the port where we walked around downtown to purchase some souviners. We ended up getting back on board about two hours before sail away.

Friday, our last day at sea, was a rocky ride! We had 10-15 foot swells with 40-50ft head winds the entire way back! This goes back to not getting a room at the front of the ship again!

Disembarkation was just as easy as embarkation! We did self disembarkation. Once we got off, we went to the elevator on our floor where a Carnival personel radioed another person inside controling the elevator floors. From our room to the car within 25 minutes! I'm still confused as to way so many people complain so much about the simple embarkation and debarkation in Charleston.

Please feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Thanks for the review- great feedback!

Appreciate the feedback. Was your cabin located on fwd?

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To be the second oldest and smallest ship in the Carnival fleet, the Ecstasy is a nice ship. I'd definitely sail on her again. I also agree about Charleston, the terminal was very nice for us also. Once our Uber picked us up in Mt. P., we were on board in 30 minutes. It's a nice small terminal.

Yes FWD! U9 and U15

Appreciate the feedback. Was your cabin located on fwd?

 

 

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And, ALL of the elevators worked the entire time we were on board! I have saw a lot of people complaining about the elevators not working on this ship.

Yes FWD! U9 and U15

Could be one of the reason for more movement on your cabin. Thanks for the response.

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It was. That was a first and a last for me. But the ship was ROCKING no matter were we were the last sea day.

Could be one of the reason for more movement on your cabin. Thanks for the response.

 

 

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How was the weather on your sea days? We are leaving next Thursday. Forecast for Nassau says 80.

It was in the 50's when we left Charleston. It was probably mid 60's by 9pm. The first sea day it was probably in the 70's that morning and warmed up through out the day. It was nice in Nassau and 82. The last sea day was overcast, cooler as the day went on, and rocky!

Appeciate the feedback.

Thank you for your report.

Keith

How was the weather on your sea days? We are leaving next Thursday. Forecast for Nassau says 80.����������

It was in the 50's when we left Charleston. It was probably mid 60's by 9pm. The first sea day it was probably in the 70's that morning and warmed up through out the day. It was nice in Nassau and 82. The last sea day was overcast, cooler as the day went on, and rocky!

We are leaving next Thursday also...can't wait for warmer temps...anything is better than 20!! :D

GC - Was it chilly on the ship? Like in the dining room? A cruiser last month mentioned that the dining rooms and theaters were freezing, just wondering if you noticed a similar issue.

We are leaving next Thursday also...can't wait for warmer temps...anything is better than 20!! :D

 

GC - Was it chilly on the ship? Like in the dining room? A cruiser last month mentioned that the dining rooms and theaters were freezing, just wondering if you noticed a similar issue.

It was a little chilly throughout the ship the day that we were in Charleston, but it had warmed up by good bit by the next morning once we reached warmer waters.

It was a little chilly throughout the ship the day that we were in Charleston, but it had warmed up by good bit by the next morning once we reached warmer waters.

Excellent! That is what I am hoping for!

So you liked Cabbage Beach? Was this a carnival excursion or did you go on your own? What did you do in Freeport? Thx so much! We are sailing in 3 weeks and can hardly wait!

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Yes, we enjoyed it. The water was a little rough, but it was a lot nicer than Junkaroo beach! It was not a Carnival excursion, we just had a Taxi take us there. We did not go to Freeport at it was a 4 night cruise.

So you liked Cabbage Beach? Was this a carnival excursion or did you go on your own? What did you do in Freeport? Thx so much! We are sailing in 3 weeks and can hardly wait!

 

 

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Oh ok thx! We may go to Cabbage beach! They had a bar and food too, correct?

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Local's were selling coconut mixed drinks. They are $20 for unlimited refills or $10 for one refill. They walked around selling snack and waters/soda.

I also forgot to mention two things during the review. We still received our Sail and Sign card during check in, and they DID NOT look at the time on our boarding pass at all...

Thanks for the review.

It seems like you had a great time! My sister (EllaDuChien) and I will probably spend a good deal of time with this Rini person at the casino bar next week. Thanks for the info!! Hopefully I'll write a quick review after we return.

It seems like you had a great time! My sister (EllaDuChien) and I will probably spend a good deal of time with this Rini person at the casino bar next week. Thanks for the info!! Hopefully I'll write a quick review after we return.

Rini was great! Those extra $1 per drink may have made the difference, but the drinks loaded! Tell her William, Teresa, Michael, and Angela sent you to her!

Thanks for the review, and it sounds like you had a great time!

I'm so glad to hear all the elevators are functioning again- a few were broken on our October cruise. We always take the stairs, but we're young (early 30s) and athletic anyway. Still, I hate to see any broken elevator because I wonder if someone was in it when it broke, you know?

I thought embarkation and debarkation were both a breeze. I've honestly not heard people complain about it- most on our cruise were grateful for the Port of Charleston because almost everyone on the ship seemed to be from NC/SC/GA and were glad for a port that was easy to drive to.

Oh ok thx! We may go to Cabbage beach! They had a bar and food too, correct?

 

 

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We went to cabbage beach this summer on the freedom . I don't remember bar service and it was kind of sketchy getting to the beach but it was the most beautiful beach. We did banana boats. But the water was very pretty. The views leaving the island were nice too.

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