Ecstasy is too small a word for this cruise. Our picture review 9/20-24, 2012

[Mrs.C05]

hi there! I remember you droped by the roll call in the beginning. Congrats on your baby! So cute. Hope you enjoy your trip. Wish I was going again. This being back in the real world business stinks Hha:D

 

Yes I lurk on here more than post, sorry! Thanks, he's certainly changed our world, but for the better! I don't know why we didn't have him sooner! Hahaha!! See ya onboard next week!

[mavis2222]

I stayed at a B&B Across the street about a block from Ron Johns, It was a ocean front place, Wish i knew the name of it. Anyhow, I stayed there after a 3 day cruise many years ago in july. I bought a boggieboard from Ron Johns that same week.

[jimbri]

Great review!

[jamona2311]

Excited to read the review.. we are going on March 2nd to celebrate my oldest son graduating from college and my middle son graduating from high school!! I am beyond excited!! This will be my 4th cruise but I still get just as excited as I did for my first!!!

 

Thats awesome! Im working right now on my next cruise that wil be for DD 18 HS graduation and DD 21 college graduation. They said theyd much rather have that than a party. I said OK!!!!! :D

[wrigley80]

This was a dream vacation in the making from about a year ago. My husband is a dairy farmer and the last time we had more than a 3 day vacation was 10 years ago. So, when he said that he had worked out the farming schedule so that we could go on a 10th Anniversary vacation the end of September 2012, I

mentioned a cruise! Now I had been hinting at a cruise for 14 years and he was never interested. Imagine my surprise when he actually said “ yeah sure. We can do that. “ OMG!!!!!!!!! I was beside myself with excitement and got to planning right away. I found Cruise Critic somehow and got busy. Im talking everyday, when ever I had some time, I was on CC. We booked in early December and the count down was on!! I was so prepared thanks to all you wonderful, knowlegeable people, I was not nervous at all when we left. I was ready!!

 

Thank-You so much for doing a review of the Ecstasy. You don't see many reviews of the older ships. My dad and I are going on the Ecstasy in December as part of a back-to-back with the Carnival Sensation.

We are from northern Illinois. My dad is also a farmer but we harvest corn and soybeans so we just have to get through the harvest season and then we get to go on vacation.

Again thank you for your wonderful review

[wrigley80]

Smokers purgatory at KCS. See even this can be beautiful in Florida

 

As we were finishing up our day as KSC the sky opened up and it started to POUR. Couldn’t have been better timing! We caught our cab and instead of heading back to our hotel we had him take us to Fishlips for dinner so we could watch the Carnival Pride leave.

Fishlips was great! The food, the drinks ,the view, the guy playing live and singing all songs I like. I was moving in my seat and singing along the entire time. I went out to smoke and low and behold was another martini and my husband with a big smile on his face. Hes such a trouble maker ( that made 3 martinis) Ah were on vacation!

MMMMMM chicken nachos at Fishlips

Here comes the Pride

After dinner we called a cab and went to Ron Jons. Terry was looking for some new sandals. That place is HUGE!!! And open 24 hours. I found some souvenirs for our DDs and we walked back to the hotel following the beach. It was sooo quiet. I think we only saw one other couple the 6 block walk. Too me it was romantic, to Terry it was a short cut. ;)

Ron Jons

 

 

Thank-You so much for your pictures of Fishlips (we are debating on whether to go there or Grills for our pre-cruise dinner). Did you have trouble finding a table??

 

I love the pictures of Ron Jon Surf Shop as well. I am sure I will be spending a small fortune in there. I absolutely love their t-shirts

[jamona2311]

Oh youre very welcome. Im looking forward to continuing it when I get home.

 

You and your dad will have a great time! I know I was nervous after hearing some other opinions but I really think its all in the attitude.

 

Yeah Terry is back hard at it now at the farm. I was stunned when he said we could take a weeks vacation! I work at a bank about 18 miles from home so its a bit easier for me to get away and Ive had to sooo many times. This was such a treat! :D

[jamona2311]

Thank-You so much for your pictures of Fishlips (we are debating on whether to go there or Grills for our pre-cruise dinner). Did you have trouble finding a table??

 

I love the pictures of Ron Jon Surf Shop as well. I am sure I will be spending a small fortune in there. I absolutely love their t-shirts

 

We were there about 430 and got a table upstairs by the water right away. They have a year round porch up there, so even tho it was still drizzeling a bit we were fine. :D

[wrigley80]

Oh youre very welcome. Im looking forward to continuing it when I get home.

 

You and your dad will have a great time! I know I was nervous after hearing some other opinions but I really think its all in the attitude.

 

Yeah Terry is back hard at it now at the farm. I was stunned when he said we could take a weeks vacation! I work at a bank about 18 miles from home so its a bit easier for me to get away and Ive had to sooo many times. This was such a treat! :D

 

I am sure it was a treat for you. I remember how I was on my first cruise and that feeling never goes away. We are preparing to go on cruises #9 and #10 with Carnival and we are so super excited :D :D :D

 

We actually prefer the smaller ships. You have less people to contend with onboard. Thanks for the advice about Fishlips as well

[MattandMarksMom]

Great review, can't wait for more.

[SoCalKJ]

Here comes the Pride

 

 

Awwwww The Pride! That was our 1st Cruise back in 2004 from Long Beach to PV, Mazatlan & Cabo. Miss her!!

 

Loving your review!! We're on the Ecstasy November 10. Getting extremely antsy here!! :rolleyes:

[Mhurst]

I am sure it was a treat for you. I remember how I was on my first cruise and that feeling never goes away. We are preparing to go on cruises #9 and #10 with Carnival and we are so super excited :D :D :D

 

We actually prefer the smaller ships. You have less people to contend with onboard. Thanks for the advice about Fishlips as well

 

After seeing those pics we might be joining you at fish lips wrigley!

[FirstAlto]

Hubs and I are cruising on Ecstasy tomorrow and just got back from Fishlips!! They have a Happy Hour special weekdays from 3-6pm special prices on drinks and some appetizers :). and some great entrees - fish n chips and seafood skewers and we got to watch RCCL Monarch of the Seas go by. A great place to go and have a few drinks and dinner ;);)

[wrigley80]

After seeing those pics we might be joining you at fish lips wrigley!

 

Those nachos were huge. I believe we are going to try Fishlips. I have only heard good things about it

[MrsKC08]

Thank-You so much for your pictures of Fishlips (we are debating on whether to go there or Grills for our pre-cruise dinner). Did you have trouble finding a table??

 

I love the pictures of Ron Jon Surf Shop as well. I am sure I will be spending a small fortune in there. I absolutely love their t-shirts

 

 

Sorry to hijack (love the review by the way). We ALWAYS go to Fishlips before a cruise, and I am originally from Orlando and use to go to Jetty Park often to watch the ships leave and Fishlips was the place to go. We never had a problem finding a table.

[jamona2311]

The shuttle shows up right on time and theres a few cruisers riding with us. One couple were newlyweds cruising Ecstasy with us.

The ride to the port was very short and soon we could see the ships. They dropped of the Sensation guests first, then Disney then us. Ecstasy was docked at the new terminal 6. Our driver gave us directions on what to do after we disembarked and we dropped off our bags with the porters.

The line to get into the terminal wasn’t very long and moved fast. We did not get passports for this trip ( mine expired in July grrr) but it wasn’t a problem coming or going. Terry used his drivers license and birth certificate and I used the same plus our marriage certificate because it had my maiden name on it.

Security was easy. I even told the lady I wimped out and didn’t fill my Rum Runners! LOL I know, what a dork. Next thing you know were through the line and getting our S&S cards and setting up our account. We were given Zone 18!! Grrrr…..well not really…they were already on 15! Yay!!!

They called our Zone # ( actually the very charismatic lady had an adorable little girl do it) and we got our Embarkation photo taken. Up an escalator we went and had our S&S pic taken and then onto the gang way!!! Were here!! Were finally here!

Ya know I thought from all the pictures Id seen that Ecstasy would be a little much, if you know what I mean, but when youre there, it just works and then she looks….beautiful. Now, Im a serious happy crier. I cried all over Disney world in 03 with my DDs ( they just laughed at me) I cry at graduations, moving to college, you name it I cry. Well this is where I got all choked up. Terrys shaking his head but quite amused nonetheless. I was sooo dang happy!

I went right to the Excursions desk to take care of business; switch my HMC horse back riding time, check on my chefs table reservation, sign Terry up for behind the fun and verify that I did have Cabana #9. I was one of the lucky ones that took advantage of the thread that mentioned all you had to do was email them. Thank you whoever started that. Wished they hadn’t taken it away for everyone else tho.

Time for…….DOD the Fun ship special!! Yummmm. I knew right then and there that fun drinks was going to be my drinking theme for the weekend.

 

 

 

 

There she is!!!!

 

 

 

This is the line to check your documents. We breezed in with DL, BC, and Marriage license.

 

 

Ooooh were almost there!!

 

 

Yup this is where I got all choked up... :,( lol

 

[gbphatcat]

Read where you did the Chef's table I am excited to hear more about that as I have reaerved it for my cruise in Feb.:)

[ripjerry95]

Thanks for your review so far. We sailed on the Ecstasy in June. We had a ball. It was our 4th cruise and 2nd on Carnival. Our very first cruise was with Carnival on the Imagination. Which is also an older ship. We loved both cruises. I am so happy that you had such a great trip. Keep the review coming.

[jamona2311]

Live Island music still playing on the lido as we finally made our way to lunch. I got the Mongolian grills shrimp with szechuan sauce. Added some veggies and it was a very tasty, spicy treat. I love hot! Im not happy unless my nose is running and Im sweating. LOL and I was…sweating that is. Although I think that had more to do with the excitement and the running around oh and the hot/humid Florida sun that Im not used to. No worries tho, remember I had my ice cold DOD!

After lunch it was 1:30. Sounded like a good time to see if our room as ready. We had room E240 which is an aft balcony cabin.

Did you know that there is a stairway that will go from the the back of the water slide deck all the way down to the aft of E deck??? I had heard about this secret stairway in my CC research but someone rudely told me that I COULD NOT use the portion of the stairway from Serenity down to E. It was for staff only. So not true. There are signs where you cant go but you can use this very convenient stairwell any time youd like, and we did!

To the right is the stairs from below, in the back of the pic is the drunk pole in front of our door.

Up these stairs and though the door and up another set of stairs and your on the Serenity!

On Wisconsin!! Oh and the drunk pole. Its not as close to the door as it looks

Thanks CC for the over the door shoe holder idea! Big closets and a number code safe. No magnetic stip needed here

The basket of goodies?? Deo, toothpaste and shampoo/conditioner

Whoops, sideways but there ya go!

[jamona2311]

Read where you did the Chef's table I am excited to hear more about that as I have reaerved it for my cruise in Feb.:)

 

February?? Whew that give me plenty of time. The chefs table was to die for and it was the last night so it will be a little bit till I get there.:D

[gbphatcat]

LOL that's ok im somewhat patient LOL also excited to hear about the BTF tour your husband did because i wanna do that too. This will be my first ever cruise so im am overly excited and want to learn as much as possible Loving this review and all the details:)

[jamona2311]

 

Another side ways shot grrr. this time the shower. Plenty big enuf.

 

 

Ya know I never did get a pic with the curtain pulled back

 

 

Awesome Ben delivered on the lounger. You the man, Ben!! lol

 

 

 

 

Gotta love this...can you hear it????

 

We did get a chance to meet our room steward, Ben, on several occasions. He was wonderful. I truly liked him. We had made several requests: an ashtray, ice for a little collapsible coolers, wine glasses and a lounge chair. He got us everything! I know it had to be difficult to get that lounger but I had seen it done and told him if he couldn’t do it I understand but that Id really appreciate it. He also filled our little coolers every night. We kept them in the shower because they leaked a bit.

After checking out the room we went to look around a bit got a drink and ended up at Serenity for a while till Muster drill. It was fast and painless. Our station was in the Starlight lounge. They took us outside on deck by the life boats for a couple of minutes and it was over. Back to the Serenity for sail away.

[jamona2311]

 

Ok some more room pics.

 

I purchase that power strip with usb ports ( box in white over the desk) but the outlet is so low Im glad I bought along an extender. An extension chord would do well here also

 

 

 

 

 

us leaving first. We win!!

 

The only bit of sun set I caught. Terry saw a beautiful one on the last night and wondered why we always missed it...dinner...

[jamona2311]

Ok thats it for tonight. I will get back tomorrow after noon as I work 8-12. Bankers hours??? Yeah right!! LOL:D:rolleyes:

 

Nite.

[Mrs.C05]

Another person here recommending Fishlips!

Loving your review!

 

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