Ecstasy 4 Day Cruise March 31st KeyWest & Cozumel

[oneboysmom]

Hi all! Have recently returned from a 4 day cruise on the wonderful Ecstasy! I have noticed that there aren't many reviews on this sailing as it is a new sailing for this ship.

In the coming days, I will post pics and thoughts and everything that we did! I've never used photobucket or any type of picture software, so bear with me. I will try to get as much done this weekend as I can!

First though, on this sailing, there was myself, Becky (37), my son, Noah (12) and first time Carnival cruisers, Gord, Linda and my brother Gordie.

We all came down a week prior to the cruise as my brother had a big swim competition in Coconut Grove. And we thought, hey, lets get out of this crappy winter weather and make a nice long warm holiday out of it!

We rented a house in Miami through homeaway.com and it was a lovely house in a great neighbourhood. We had 4 bedrooms with 5 bathrooms, pool, pool table, and anything else you could think of. Much better than being couped up in a hotel for a week!

My son and I had a busy week. We checked out the Venetian Pool, downtown Miami, Bayside Marketplace and South Beach. Was a wonderful time. We saw them get ready for the ultra music fest, but once that started, we stayed clear of that area! Coconut Grove is a very lovely place and has a nice small town feel to it.

Will get to embarkation in a little while after I try to figure out photobucket!! Have some other pics to post as well from South Beach, so stayed tuned....

[scoonrod]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. I will be cruising on the ecstasy very soon so any reviews are welcomed. I look forward to reading yours.

[oneboysmom]

Venetian Pool

[oneboysmom]

As I said, am still trying to figure out this photobucket thing. Anyone have any helpful hints to make them bigger, i'm all ears!!! Thanks for reading!

[cruisingbajan]

Hi all! Have recently returned from a 4 day cruise on the wonderful Ecstasy! I have noticed that there aren't many reviews on this sailing as it is a new sailing for this ship.

In the coming days, I will post pics and thoughts and everything that we did! I've never used photobucket or any type of picture software, so bear with me. I will try to get as much done this weekend as I can!

First though, on this sailing, there was myself, Becky (37), my son, Noah (12) and first time Carnival cruisers, Gord, Linda and my brother Gordie.

We all came down a week prior to the cruise as my brother had a big swim competition in Coconut Grove. And we thought, hey, lets get out of this crappy winter weather and make a nice long warm holiday out of it!

We rented a house in Miami through homeaway.com and it was a lovely house in a great neighbourhood. We had 4 bedrooms with 5 bathrooms, pool, pool table, and anything else you could think of. Much better than being couped up in a hotel for a week!

My son and I had a busy week. We checked out the Venetian Pool, downtown Miami, Bayside Marketplace and South Beach. Was a wonderful time. We saw them get ready for the ultra music fest, but once that started, we stayed clear of that area! Coconut Grove is a very lovely place and has a nice small town feel to it.

Will get to embarkation in a little while after I try to figure out photobucket!! Have some other pics to post as well from South Beach, so stayed tuned....

 

Thanks for taking the time to post. I have been looking forward to this review for a while.:) Looking forward to all those pics.

 

Hope you had a blast!!

[oneboysmom]

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Ok, I"m hoping that this works!!! IF so, then I can get back to the story! Well, I think you can at least click on the pics and see them!

1st pic is what every Canadian likes to see...Canadian beer in a warm sunny place!

The others are pics as we were pulling up to Embark. There were 4 ships in Port that day.

[cruisingbajan]

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Ok, I"m hoping that this works!!! IF so, then I can get back to the story! Well, I think you can at least click on the pics and see them!

1st pic is what every Canadian likes to see...Canadian beer in a warm sunny place!

The others are pics as we were pulling up to Embark. There were 4 ships in Port that day.

 

I am not able to see the pics and when I click on them I get an error.:(

[oneboysmom]

Now, we're almost there. We paid our taxi drivers and took our luggage to the Porters. We were very early and people were still disembarking. They told us we would have to wait, but we walked up to the door and were allowed right inside. Once through security, we went upstairs where my Dad was able to get a wheelchair. So, as it turns out, we were the very 1st people to board the ship, bypassing everyone. Nothing was opened when we got there, but was nice to say that we were the first on board!

Ok, side note, I can't figure out photobucket, so I'll do it the way I did it in my other post...hope you

can see them!

 

 

some of my files are too large it says...will try and get this figured out shortly!! Thanks for the patience

[cruisingbajan]

The last 2 pics came out great. Keep doing what you did for those. :)

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[scoonrod]

What time did u get to the port and on the ship? Thank you for taking time to post review and pics...

[Rockstarmami]

I was on this sailing, lots of people!

[cruzcrazy336]

I'm very interested in your review as we're considering taking this cruise again. We took it back in 1994 for our honeymoon...same itinerary, same ship. What better way to celebrate 20 years!?;)

[francina]

Thanks for the picture review. I will be taking this cruise in May.

I'm wondering if they have an outdoor theater?

 

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[cruisingbajan]

Oneboysmom....My wife and I were considering the option of renting a home as well. We were considering using airnb.com.

 

How easy was it for you to use the other site? What was the process?

 

Thanks

 

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[CruiseinNJ]

Thanks for the picture review. I will be taking this cruise in May.

I'm wondering if they have an outdoor theater?

 

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There is no outdoor theater on the Ecstasy.

 

Rockstarmami you must have been standing a few people away from us during muster - we were on this trip also. We were standing in front of the beverage station. And I see someone else from our roll call standing of to the side in your picture.

[francina]

Cruiseinnj-

Thanks

 

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[JimAOk1945]

Nice review and pictures. We have cruised on the Ecstasy twice on six day itineraries and enjoyed it both times. She is a fine ship with a good crew. The best part of each cruise was being able to see the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and Uxmal!

 

Happy sailing everyone!

Edited April 14, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[oneboysmom]

What time did u get to the port and on the ship? Thank you for taking time to post review and pics...

 

Hi scoonrod, we were at the port around 10:30ish and were on board by 11am. As I said, we were the first to board!!! OF course, we received the email saying please don't arrive til 1pm, but who listens to that!!

[oneboysmom]

I was on this sailing, lots of people!

We were on the other side of the muster drill, closer to the buffet!! I'm sure we saw each other a few times! Yes, the ship was busy, but was fun!

[oneboysmom]

So, muster drill came and went, it was actually perfect since we were already in our place to be, the lido deck!!! IT was painless as usual, can't really say the time we finished as I have had a few DOD's by this time!

So, next comes sailaway. I had been watching the portcam and have noticed that the Ecstasy never left til at least 4:30. So off to the waterslide deck we go and I see that the Victory has pulled out and the Royal Caribbean ship was just passing us. Well, next up is us!!!! Unfortunately, it had clouded over and got a little breezy, but we stuck it out and watched us sail by South Beach!

We decide to go to our rooms after this to get ready for dinner and put stuff away to organize a little.

We had Anytime Dining as it is a lot easier to not have to worry about what time you have to eat! Service was always good, a little slow for food, but we didn't care, we were on vacation!!

I didn't take any food pictures or menu pictures, but I do remember that there was NO lobster bisque on this cruise, which I was really looking forward to, but they did have cold soups which are always amazing!!

First night, don't remember what I had, I was a little bit more wobbly at this point :cool:.

The welcome aboard show was tonight which we checked out. Saw the Comedians, which made me go to their later performances. They were funny!! After that, I called it a night since we had a very early arrival to Key West!

[oneboysmom]

 

 

 

[oneboysmom]

Oneboysmom....My wife and I were considering the option of renting a home as well. We were considering using airnb.com.

 

How easy was it for you to use the other site? What was the process?

 

Thanks

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Hi, using homeaway was not hard at all. WE had to put a deposit down, then 3 weeks before checking in, we had to pay full amount. It was all done electronically with a cc. I did look into airbnb as well, but this site had the house we eventually picked. Goodluck with the house rental! I found it amazing to have your own space!

[oneboysmom]

So, knowing we would be arriving in KeyWest early, I had ordered some room service of coffee, cereal and a banana. However, what I wasn't prepared for was the wicked hangover I would have. So, I slept for another hour or so and woke up and was off the ship by 9:15am. I found this to be a great time as all the shops were open by now. We just decided to walk around and do some shopping. With all those $5 stores, how can you say no?!? My son was as excited as I was!!! We hit all the spots, and the cookie factory as well. On the way, I found this little shop that had some conch fritters, and of course, had to get some of these! Boy were they good!! After, we made our way to Sloppy Joes for a round of beverages. Little did I know that WOB (World of Beer) was right across the street. Well, I love me some craft beer and beers of the world, so had to go in and take a look. Very very impressive!! Next time that I'm in KeyWest, going to have to go there first! After this, we went to the KeyLime Factory to get my 1st ever piece of KeyLime Pie. And wow, will I never eat it again...its just not my taste!! Coconut cream, well, we'll just stick with the safe bet! Next was back on board to leave port at 1:30. Just not enough time, but always the next time back!

 

 

 

[oneboysmom]

Well, once on board was time to find a chair on deck. Goodluck!!! It was very hot and very busy. Unfortunately, the pool was closed, and I never really found out why. I did see them working on an empty pool later. The hottubs were crowded, as normal, but the showers worked just fine!

Tonight, was our "elegant night" so headed to the rooms early to shower and get all prettied up. I had originally had brought an lbd, but once I put it on, I discovered that I forgot my sandles for them, so I wore my nice sundress instead. It worked and my Son looked amazing too!

 

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Later that night, it was on to the Piano Bar. Let me tell you, she has one heck of a voice and personality. It was a really great time. Next went to see the Brits. Same show as last year that we saw, so no big deal really. I was very tired this night, so went to find my kiddo in the Kids Club and off to bed I went!! Next up....Cozumel!!

 

[Tracey/Thom]

Oneboysmom....My wife and I were considering the option of renting a home as well. We were considering using airnb.com.

 

How easy was it for you to use the other site? What was the process?

 

Thanks

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

Be careful with that BajanKeith, I've heard some horror stories, renters renting out a room, running a mini-brothel, no locks on the bedroom doors, and so on. The name stands for airmattress, so go figure!