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"JW and Jerome's Ecstatic ECSTASY Adventures"

cruiseguys2009

By cruiseguys2009,
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cruiseguys2009

cruiseguys2009

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“JW and Jerome’s Ecstatic Ecstasy Adventure!”

 

Oh No! JW and Jerome are at it again. Yes! "The Mouth Of The South" has a new saga. Hold on to your hats and grab a Martini! We are going for a ride on a Fun Ship!

 

A little about us. Jerome and I are mid 50’s. We two unconventional left over party boys that live in Florida. I was an award winning Managing Director of a Marriott Convention Center, now retired, and Jerome flies for a Major Airline (The one that begins with the letter U nad just merged with C). Together, we have over 50 years in the “Old School” Guest Relations business. We have been together for two decades, which is a long time for our kingdom, for any kingdom for that matter, and we love to travel by ship on vacation, as we feel that cruising is we'll find the last bastion of true “Old School” Customer Service and Guest Relations.

 

As always, our Adventures are energetic, fun filed, and outrageous at times. We truly enjoy sharing our experiences, but as we do, please read the entire story and don’t react to “our opinion” that appears in one sentence with out reading the entire passage. Any of our perceived negative opinions are redeemed to positive, as the story unfolds. As the title of the story states: We had an Ecstatic ECSTASY Adventure! To clarify, The ship. The Carnival FunShip. The Carnival FunShip ECSTASY.

 

As for Carnival, I remember Carnival. Do I remember Carnival! Carnival set the standards for the Leisure Cruise Industry that we all now know. I loved Carnival! It created the wonderful world of FunShip cruising. As a child, I was on the Mardi Gras, The Carnivale, and later on in life, was privileged to be on the Inaugural Sailings each of The Holiday, The Jubilee and The Celebration. At that time, Carnival was amazing, so many incredible experiences. Kathy Lee Gifford’s commercials certified Carnival's foundation as the FunShips! As the cruise industry grew, things changed. Values changed. And changed, and sadly, changed some more. Profits became the word of the day. Like many companies, I felt, in my opinion, that Carnival seemed to follow what the shareholders had to say, and paid little attention to the customers that built their magnificent line.

 

Thus, it became evident that I was no longer a big fan of Carnival Cruise Lines after our last sailings in ‘09 and ‘10 and ’11. As a matter of fact, I wrote on another review recently, that for me to travel on Carnival again would be like sitting at the Kids Table at Thanksgiving. Because once we traveled on this other, more upscale cruise line, we knew on that ship, we were finally at The Adult Table. I was dead set against going backwards and travel on Carnival ever again.

 

A lot of factors came into play on why we left Carnival. In our humble opinion, the quality and performance of the customer service was not on par from what it was just a couple of years before. The lack of a caring staff. Food quality that had changed drastically downward, to unacceptable levels for me. Then there was the dreaded Guest Service Desk. I felt that on our prior sailing in 2011, it was staffed with rude, nasty, unprofessional, uncaring people with “So What?” attitudes, and frankly just plain not nice people who despised Americans..

 

That was then. This story is about now.

I was most pleasantly amazed.

 

And, if I have to, based on the short, five nights of Ecstasy, I gladly would now eat those previous sentences I just wrote, at the Buffet. What a complete turnaround.

 

Months ago, it was surprising to me, that after I was cleaning out my file cabinet at home, I came across a long lost FCC (Future Cruise Certificate) that was set to expire October 1st. Just for fun, I began looking up cruises on Carnival for a couple of days in September. I figured, what the heck, lets see if there is a short three day cruise to use this certificate on. Oh heck, if there was, then I can drink martini’s for three days and not remember a thing…..and of course, Any Cruise is A good Cruise, as long as it is A Cruise! How bad can it be?

 

I came across the Carnival Ecstasy September sailings out of Port Canaveral and funny thing, Carnival was having an absurd sale, so much so, that I did not believe my eyes what the prices were. There was a five day sailing for the same price as a three day. Wow! “Hey Jerome”, I called out, “Come Look at this!”. Jerome came bouncing into our home office and immediately saw I was on the Carnival site and he said “JW, what are you doing on THAT site?” He continued “You know we will never go on another Carnival ship again, We hate it”. “Hate is a strong word”, I said to him, and he retorted….”I was merely repeating what you have said.” I can always count on Jerome to remember each and every word I have ever said, and dang, he is a human computer. Okay, so I did say that.

 

Well, as I was saying, “Look at these prices!” “Look how cheap for an Outside Forward Cabin on Empress Deck for a 5 day sailing. Freeport, Nassau and Half Moon Cay!” Jerome said “What the Blankadeeblank!” I said, “I know, can you Blankedeeblank believe it?” We looked around the site, and looked at each other and decided,"Well, we cannot pass this up!" We did have the time available, and as we live in Florida, we are about an hour and a half from Port Canaveral. We were originally planning on going to Disney over those days, but, well, I signed us up for the cruise instead. Jerome said “I hope you know what you are doing, JW, because I am not going to listen to you complain about what a horrible time you had if that becomes the case.” I said “Oh shut up!”, and I darted back “Let’s go, it will be an adventure, and if it’s not, then it will be my fault and we will just drink lots of martini’s until we dock back in Port Canaveral.” “That is what scares me, Trouble”, Jerome said. “You will do that anyway!”

 

See, “Trouble” is Jerome’s name for me, and it’s from some old movie “Where Trouble Goes, Trouble Follows“, but the movie title is actually “Where Angel’s Go, Trouble Follows”. I guess I can fairly report that I, in fact, am no Angel. If you have read my other reviews, well, you already know that. How much trouble can “Trouble” get into on The Carnival Ecstasy?

 

The answer is, lots.

 

Before I tell you the story, I want to begin by saying that the experience we had was an eye opening, complete turnaround, regarding New The Carnival. We sailed on one of the oldest, if not the oldest ship in the Carnival fleet. It was a veritable floating FunShip of constant “Wow, what happened here?” reactions by me, and of witnessing a sudden return to many of Carnival’s original industry standards, that in my opinion, they had let fall by the way side in place of profits before people. I had heard the new Carnival CEO talk about the changes but had not realized that they were implemented yet. Well, in fact, yes they are.

 

It seemed that Carnival heard their customer’s loud and clear. Everywhere I noticed it. The staff on THIS sailing, on THIS ship, were happily performing Guest Service and Guest Pleasing. Not just going thru the motions. Genuine “Hello’s” and True “Thank You’s!” were heard as we passed by Crew Members or they performed a service. The ship was spotless! Oh Heaven’s yes! Spotless! The hard working crew were constantly cleaning, scrubbing, painting, polishing. The Ecstasy very much had the 80’s retro Joe Farcas Vegas Interior, but it had an renewed energy to it. A very Positive Vibe. We felt it immediately when we arrived on board. The Positive Vibe was coming from the Crew. I could feel that it was genuine. Almost all the staff were really outgoing and very nice, and for us, many went out of their way, doing little things that make up the whole picture. I want to say that our experience was like a masterpiece painting that I just purchased, and felt I got my money’s worth and more. But also, I truly felt that like I WAS this masterpiece, and I appreciated in Value, and was consequently admired and treated wonderfully.

 

I want to be a part of this again.

 

This is just the beginning.

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Kfoot

Kfoot

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“JW and Jerome’s Ecstatic Ecstasy Adventure!”

 

Oh No! JW and Jerome are at it again. Yes! "The Mouth Of The South" has a new saga. Hold on to your hats and grab a Martini! We are going for a ride on a Fun Ship!

 

Thus, it became evident that I was no longer a big fan of Carnival Cruise Lines after our last sailings in ‘09 and ‘10 and ’11. As a matter of fact, I wrote on another review recently, that for me to travel on Carnival again would be like sitting at the Kids Table at Thanksgiving. Because once we traveled on this other, more upscale cruise line, we knew on that ship, we were finally at The Adult Table. I was dead set against going backwards and travel on Carnival ever again.

 

Hey JW! It's great to read another one of your review. I remember those comments you made on your wonderful review of Celebrity. I got drunk reading your review every time you mention 'tinkle'.

Looking forward to your review. We were on this ship and was pleasantly surprised of how well maintained the ship was. Will be on her again in December. I love her and had a wonderful time. We didn't do HMC, we had Little Stirrup Cay instead.

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cruiseguys2009

cruiseguys2009

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OMG - the fig newton is back!! Missed you guys!! Can't wait for this review!! Anyone who has sailed with these two know we are in for a wild ride!!

 

 

And Hello to my Cruising Canadians! I had posted the pic of "The Fig Newton", but it was axed during the mumbo jumbo of the last review. It ended up posting too large. We hope to see you both again sometime!

 

JW and Jerome

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miataman19

miataman19

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Hey guys, I left Carnival for awhile also. Was asked to take a 4 day on Ecstasy last summer with some friends. I was very, very surprised with the entire operation of the ship. The entire cruise was great from start to finish. Can't wait to read your review...:D

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cruiseguys2009

cruiseguys2009

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The Embarkation

 

 

“JW Get UP!” I was dreamingly drifting back and forth in a quiet slumber. “JW, I SAID GET UP!” I stirred uncomfortably, sitting up in bed suddenly to Jerome screeching “JW, Get Yo Azzup and outa de bed as it’s after 9 o’clock and we have FASTER TO THE FUN Passes and we are going to be late!” “Wah?” I mumbled…Oh my mouth was so dry, my head pounded like Little Ricky playing his new bongo drum in that I Love Lucy episode. Boom! Boom, Boom, Boom!. Boom!. “Don’t shout at me, what’s the matter?” I answered back. Jerome said “JW, we are supposed to be on The Ecstasy in about an hour!” My eyes opened wide. I thought to myself “That’s right!” Then I said “Oh my head. What happened?” Jerome said, “Trouble had a bit to much to drink until 3 in the morning.” “Yikes” I said as I held my head in my hands. “My life partner Kettle One left me, so I opened up a bottle of 337 Merlot, and I think she left me too”. Jerome said, “Yup, you finished them both, for what reason, I don’t know', he paused and then continued with "Oh yeah, your on vacation you kept saying.“ Jerome lamented, “But all I know is you are the one who’s idea it was to drag me onto a Carnival ship again.” “So Trouble, you are going to get yo’ azzup and get ready as we have to go!” He then said in an enchantingly miserable tone of voice, “ It was your idea to buy that Faster To The Fun thingy anyway.” Mimicking me he said, “We have to leave the house by 9 o‘clock, Jerome.” “We have Faster to the Fun, Jerome.“ He then shouted at me “Move it Trouble!” What a way to start a vacation! Actually I had really started it the night before and Oh did my head hurt!

 

Okay, so we were out of the house by 10 AM. Oh, my aching head. I forewent my usual Bloody Mary at the house that I drink on every morning of Sail Day, which I should have had.....and I also left behind my usual split of champagne for the ride up to Port Canaveral. Jerome always drives so I can imbibe! Several Motrin would take care of the pain soon enough, then the excitement would take over and well, I would then have to TINKLE!

 

I love that feeling…..that first moment when I see the ship as we are entering the port. Oh my Gosh…..I just have to Tinkle! Well that moment came soon enough.

 

As we live in East Central Florida, the drive to Port Canaveral is so very easy. It is our tradition, when driving north to the Port, to take I95 and get off at the Palm Bay/Pinellas Parkway exit. The Parkway takes us east, all the way to A1A and the U.S. Air Force Base. It's exciting to drive past the Base and see all the military aircraft. The base, which juts up to A1A and the Atlantic Ocean, is enormous. Whenever we drive this way, it means that we are going on a cruise and I get that special feeling…..yep, you know where I am going with this…..how many times will JW say “The T Word” in this review?

 

So we travel north on A1A , through Cocoa Beach and past the iconic Ron Jon’s Surf Shop. Head into the City of Canaveral, then low and behold, I know what’s coming…..there are the signs for the Port…..we just passed the Radisson Hotel…..Oh My….”Cruise Parking signs and Look Jerome!”, I exclaimed, “Shuttle Buses!” “You know where they are going!” We get up to the top of the Bridge and There She Is! The Ecstasy! The Whale Tail! I have to TINKLE!!!! I am so excited.

 

But, the excitement was more reserved this time, as neither Jerome nor I knew what to expect, and frankly, we were scared that of the images that lurked in our mind about how the ship might be a floating toilet, would there be raging sewage smells, faulty air conditioning, and gosh knows what else. I had such trepidations because the cost was so low, that I said to myself “How can it be?” “How can this be a decent cruise for the price we are paying?” And then ever mindful of the guilt trip constantly playing over and over in my pounding head... “You get what you pay for.” I thought about it again, and took a deep breath and we were then at the Baggage Drop Off Area.

 

As we got out of the car, a wonderful gentleman who was our Porter met us and noticed our Faster To The Fun luggage tags and he remarked, “Glad you got here, but aren’t you a little behind schedule?” “You should be on the ship by now!” It was about 11:25 AM and Mr. Porter informed us that the ship had begun boarding already. Jerome said “You can blame our lateness on Princess Drunkie here!” as he pointed to me. I quickly corrected Jerome “That’s Queen Drunkie, My mom passed away and left me the Title!“ The Porter laughed, and said “There’s plenty of time for more Drunkie, my Queenie!” he continued, “You both are going to have a great time!” He then took our two bags, a large wheelie and a garment bag, saying humorously and continuing the Royalty Joke, “These will be in your cabin by the time you get on board, Your Highness”, the Porter then added “You won’t have to worry about your bags at all, they are going on the ship right now and be up in Your Royal Suite in no time!” Laughing, I tipped him a twenty spot and said “Thank you so much for taking such good care of our bags and having so much fun.”

 

Jerome had left me at the Baggage Drop Off area while he parked the car. The week before, online, we had purchased our parking pass for parking directly at the Port, which we found in the past was worth the extra money, as each time we have gotten off the ships here at Port Canaveral, it is a pleasure to go directly to your car and get immediately on the road home, without having to wait for a shuttle. Especially if it’s raining. Which, by the way, each and every time we have sailed from Port Canaveral and returned to Port Canaveral, it has been raining.

 

Except, something was very funny about this sailing, maybe a turning point after all. It was a gorgeous, bright, sun shiny day!

Edited by cruiseguys2009
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gh1088

gh1088

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Oh my gosh...I can't wait for this review! I loved your Celebrity review. I see you will be on the Sunshine next year....we just got off her on a cruise to the Mediterranean and had a wonderful time...you will love her!

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cormike1

cormike1

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Looking forward to the rest of your review JW! We just took our 1st Carnival cruise on the Glory...we have 5 Princess cruises under our belt. Like you, the price was too hard to pass up! Carnival was a jolt to our systems with the "colour schemes" but we had a wonderful cruise. There were things we weren't thrilled with but hey, that happens with a lot of things. We love cruising and would definitely take a Carnival cruise again if the agenda and price were right. I hope you have a great experience on your "return to Carnival" cruise. Looking forward to your review!!!!

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cruiseguys2009

cruiseguys2009

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Security

 

 

“Come on Jerome, Hurry Up!” I thought to myself, pacing from side to side, as I nervously waited for him to come from parking the car, and because as usual, I had to Tinkle! I cross my legs and do the dance. I need the men’s room fast! Ah! Here comes Jerome! “JW, I can tell from all the way across the street that you have to go!” I said “Jerome, it’s cruise day, and everyone knows that I don’t just have to“Go”, I Tinkle with excitement!” Not amused, Jerome just barked “Whatever, Trouble”.

 

There was a line outside the building to get into Security and Jerome moves to get into that line when I said that I had read that there was a “Special” line for Faster To The Fun, but he continued to argue with me that the FTTF line would be inside, after Security. HA HA HA….Wrong! I said, “Oh Jerome, would you mind reading that big red sign over there to me.” Then adding sarcastically, “Can you please tell me, exactly what does that sign say?” Pointing to the Big Sign that read “Carnival Welcomes Platinum, Diamond and Faster To The Fun VIP Line.” Which was located on the other side of the building. Hmmm.

 

Smug as a bug, I hear “Okay Smarty Pants, get movin‘!” Jerome said. Over to VIP we sauntered. Oh the dirty looks we got from the folks in line. Thought we were sneaking in! There were no passengers in the VIP line and after showing our documents to the Security person at the door, we proceeded directly to the Security Screening and breezed right thru. No beeps, no buzzes and we had two small coolers with water, but we went right through. And yes, it was just WATER. After collecting our belongings, we were told to head around the corner to the FTTF line, and it was a special line with a special check in desk. Cool. We arrived at the counter, and our S&S cards were waiting, the kind gentleman at the FTTF counter processed our Passports and we were on our way. Zip, Zoom, Bah. Up the escalator, through another passageway and then another Security Checkpoint, have our S&S cards slid into the machine…..“Ding“ I love that sound….almost there! We then walked out to the long, long, long traditional stretch of hallway to the glass boarding gangway. Keeping our eyes on The Ecstasy through the plate glass windows along the way. Boy, she was certainly a Bright White Vintage Old Grande Dame. I really have to Tinkle!

 

Here it is! Finally! The entrance to the glass domed boarding gangway. Here comes the walk up......up.....and up some more. Three flights and then, oh my gosh! We are here! Out comes my S&S card again, a big "Welcome Aboard" from one of the Ship's Officer’s and my card goes in the slot and “Ding!” It’s Official! We are officially on The Carnival Ecstasy and we enter right into the Atrium Lobby of Empress Deck.

 

All at once, I hear the music excitedly blaring thru the Atrium and “Oh! Wait a minute! I exclaimed. Then Jerome, startled, says in an annoyed sort of panic tone of voice “What JW?” Thinking I must have forgotten something. “Listen!“ I said. It was “Gangum Style” playing. “Whoop Whoop! Gangum Style!” I sang outloud. I stop suddenly, put my carry on bags down right there, unaware I was going to start a traffic jam, and started to dance, doing the Whoop Whoop Gangum Style. Boy was I lovin’ it. “Whoop! Whoop!” You could hear me say as I gyrated my big ’ol derriere from side to side. Then I hear Jerome say very loudly “JW, get out of the way, you are holding everyone up!” I stop, and look around. Oh how embarrassing! I completely had no idea that there were a bunch load of people behind me, all politely waiting till I stopped my gyrations! One gal was even videotaping me.....That will make some YouTube fodder for sure! Well, all were polite except for Jerome, of course. I quickly started to gather up my belongings (and I had not even had a Martini yet!) and the music was at that part of the song that the chorus is singing “Haaaaay Sexy Lady! Whoop Whoop!” and I turn to Jerome, mouthing the words to him and he says back “Not Funny Trouble!" "You are neither a Lady nor Sexy, now move yo’ bigazz!” Well I never! Everyone around us laughed.

 

I remember being on the sister ship to the Ecstasy, The Sensation, and we had the same exact cabin on her as we did on The Ecstasy. Cabin E61, Empress, Outside Window, just 15 steps from, what else, THE BAR! I knew how to get to the cabin and it’s location, but the doors to the hallway were closed as the rooms were not yet ready. Au Contraire, but we had FTTF and I went over to the door and mater of factly, Royalty like, swung it open, and I trollope through with Jerome in toe. Our cabin was just past the door, and was ready as promised. Jerome and I emptied our carry on bags and began to get settled. Jerome loves to be the one to unpack and get the cabin organized. I let him, as I am the one who packs. Perfectly, I might add. Why is it that we who hail from the land of fairy dust are so darn organized, neat and tidy?

 

But the one thing I thought we were going to like the most about FTTF, was to be able to unpack all our luggage before Muster Drill. Our luggage is supposed to either be in the room by the time we board, or arrive shortly thereafter. This way we can get settled without having to be concerned about doing it later, as that would encroach upon Sail A Way and our Martini time. That, unfortunately, was not going to be the case.

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cruiseguys2009

cruiseguys2009

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Good Morning to you my friend!

 

Very happy to see you doing another review...entertainment at it's finest...

 

 

 

I laugh. This is what most people think after reading our adventures: shocked-smiley-emoticon.gif

 

And This is what the "Powers That Be" think when they see I have yet another Cruise Critic adventure being complied: forehead-slap-smiley-emoticon.gif

 

 

But this is what we hope happens to everyone after reading each chapter of the adventures: crazy-lol.gif

Edited by cruiseguys2009
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Anubi

Anubi

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I love this...another JW Review...they are so interesting!!

The Ecstasy is very special to us as we got engaged on her, we called it our Ecstasy Engagementmoon!! :D:D

Edited by Anubi
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