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Back-to-Back Review on the Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Sensation


wrigley80
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Allow me to introduce myself for those of you who haven't checked out my two previous reviews on the Carnival Fantasy and the Carnival Legend. My name is Brianna and I cruise with my dad, Rick. We are from northern Illinois and we try to cruise at least twice a year. In 2012 we were fortunate enough to be able to cruise 3 times.

When I first started researching what ship and itinerary we wanted to do.....my dad propsed the idea of doing a back to back. I had never thought of it but I was more than willing to look into it. I started researching and I found a 5-day cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy out of Port Canaveral for December 3-8 and then a 4-day cruise on the Carnival Sensation out of Port Canaveral for December 9-13 with a day in between each cruise. Now this wasn't your traditional back-to-back cruise but we liked it because we would be able to experience 2 different ships.

We flew into Orlando International Airport a day early because I had a list of places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do before heading out to Port Canaveral.

One of the places we went in Orlando was at M&M World at Florida Mall. It was very cool and I highly recommend it for everyone to see....

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I think I have the pose down pretty good.....haha

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As I said M&M World was at Florida Mall.....parking was a huge issue but we were there on a Sunday during the Christmas shopping season. It is definitely something to see. There are only 3 M&M World stores in the world.....Orlando, Las Vegas, and London

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Any NASCAR fan knows who drives the #18 M&M's Toyota.....not my favorite driver but you have to admit that it is a sweet ride :D

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All the different flavors of M&M'S.....there were plain, peanut, peppermint, coconut, pretzel....in just about any color scheme that you could think of

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Me and my best friend....my dad

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After we left M&M's World we went to Senor Frogs in Orlando because my dad just had to get a t-shirt or two. The Senor Frogs is right on International Drive and it is relatively new

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As you can see they were a little slow.....we were there at 3:00

 

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Yep my dad has a bag in his hands.....you know it. He got 2 t-shirts. His entire consists of Margaritaville and Senor Frogs t-shirts :p

 

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I just couldn't resist this picture :D

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After we left Senor Frogs we headed to Ron Jon Surf Shop at Festival Bay Mall at the north end of International Drive. I had to get a t-shirt from here even though I knew I would be visiting the Ron Jon in Cocoa Beach.....more to come on that later

 

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Skateboard anyone???

 

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Merry Christmas from Ron Jon Surf Shop. It is still hard for me to get used to Christmas trees and lights in Florida ;)

 

After we left Ron Jon we headed to dinner and then we drove out Cocoa Beach to get ready for our Cruise in the morning. Now if you are driving from Orlando be prepared to have a lot of change and $1.00 bills for tolls. We stopped 5 times for tolls on the road headed out to Cocoa Beach. We are used to tolls in Illinois but that was ridiculous. More to come on the morning of Embarkation Day..........

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OK I'm back.....Monday, December 3 was embarkation day. We woke up early because we were too excited to sleep. I don't care how many cruises that you have been on it is always so exciting the morning of embarkation because vacation is about to start.

 

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We rented a car from Budget at Orlando Airport because we wanted to do some sightseeing and shopping in Orlando. I used promo code Y937800 and we got a Chrysler 200 for $55.00. We dropped it off the morning of the cruise and then they provided shuttle transportation to the port. It was very convenient

 

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This is looking down towards the ocean and taken just in front of our hotel. We started at the Comfort Inn on Atlantic Ave. It was a wonderful hotel with very nice staff who were there to help if you needed something. My dad needed a refrigerator to keep his insulin cold. I called the front desk and there was a fridge there within 5 minutes. I highly recommend this place to stay if you cruise out of Port Canaveral. We actually stayed there twice.....the night before the first cruise and the night in between the second cruise

 

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I love this picture. We drove down to Cocoa Beach to the Cocoa Beach pier area. This was looking south

 

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This picture of Cocoa Beach was looking north. Not too many people out this early. It was so peaceful

Edited by wrigley80
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As I said we drove to the port area to see the ship for the first time.............

 

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And there she is....my home for the next 5 days......The Carnival Ecstasy

 

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The Carnival Miracle was also in port this day

 

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The area is undergoing a lot of renovations with new restaurants and shopping. It was nice to be able to drive down and check out the ship

 

Well it was about time for us to head to the port so we headed back to the hotel to gather up our stuff. Before we dropped the car off we stopped at a Publix Supermarket to pick up a 12 pack of pop and a 12 pack of water.

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As I said M&M World was at Florida Mall.....parking was a huge issue but we were there on a Sunday during the Christmas shopping season. It is definitely something to see. There are only 3 M&M World stores in the world.....Orlando, Las Vegas, and London

P1020747_zpse81df1c9.jpg

Any NASCAR fan knows who drives the #18 M&M's Toyota.....not my favorite driver but you have to admit that it is a sweet ride :D

P1020749_zps7b620174.jpg

All the different flavors of M&M'S.....there were plain, peanut, peppermint, coconut, pretzel....in just about any color scheme that you could think of

P1020750_zps6d2a8db7.jpg

Me and my best friend....my dad

 

Loving your review so much. Great pics. BTW there is an M&M World in NYC as well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%26M's_World Please visit if you ever decide to take a cruise out of NY

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We dropped the car off and were on a shuttle headed to the port by 10:30 am.

 

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There she is again....we are getting closer

 

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This is always a great feeling.......let the fun begin :D

 

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Vacation has officially begun because we have our first Fun Ship drink of the day. My dad and I always purchase the bottomless beverages package because we drink a lot of pop. We definitely get our money's worth

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We were in a porthole cabin......R2. I love porthole cabins but this one came with a little surprise....

 

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The surprise was that we had a pole right in front of our door that we had to navigate our way around. You had to turn sideways to get out the door and get out of the hallway. That was rather inconvenient but it is what it is.....

 

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It is time for sailaway.....

 

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Fishlips Waterfront Bar and Grill......we ate here on the night in between our two cruises. More to come on this later......

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M&M world is a fun place to visit! Glad to see the start of your reviews. I remember seeing you two off and on around the Ecstasy. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

Yes it was a fun place to see. I am sure we probably passed each other more than once ;) I love reading reviews that other people do so it's only right that I return the favor :p

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Yippee, i have been patiently waiting for your reviews! :D Please can you tell me what camera you use? Your photos are always so wonderful!

 

I needed to get my review going because I have had a couple asking me when I was going to be starting it :) My camera is a Panasonic Lumix with 14 megapixels. It is a perfect camera for cruising because I put it in my pocket and have it when ever I want to take a picture onboard.

 

Thank You :)

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great start I have been eagerly anticipating this review, cant wait to read more. How far is the m&m store from the port canaveral area?

 

The M&M store is in Orlando so from the Port Canaveral area it is around an hour. If you are flying into Orlando be sure to check it out :)

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Hi Brianna, I knew you would give us a fantastic review with photos. I will look everyday for you. Say, that M&M World is something else! We have been to the one in Las Vegas, feel as though we are 10 yrs. old.:D.

 

Thank You. Yeah it definitely makes you feel like a kid again. I was like a kid in a candy store...... hehe :p

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