Carnival Ecstasy 5-12 Bermuda

[ruachsm]

Wanted to give you guys a quick review of our most recent cruise. This was a 7 day trip to Bermuda. I'm not good at the art of reviewing lol so I'll hit the highlights and answer any questions that you may have.

 

Embarkation-

As many people have posted, the embarkation process in Charleston is a different beast. However, this particular cruise wasn't that much of a hassle. We arrived to the port around 11:15am. Went through security, dropped off our luggage and then waited for clearance from the ship which happened about 15 minutes later. At this point we paid for parking(Charleston provides free parking for anyone with a handicap tag providing that the disabled individual is in the vehicle) then drove over into a parking garage. This could be the most frustrating part of the process for most people. The lines waiting for the shuttle buses can get pretty long. We had a disabled person with us and therefore had private shuttles. After being shuttled over to the terminal we were on the boat in 10 minutes and enjoying lunch. At 1:30pm we were allowed in our rooms. This is where we encountered an issue with the bathroom. The shower head was broken and laying on the floor. Also the sink would not drain. A quick call the guest services and they had the problem fixed in less than an hour and followed up later that evening to make sure the problem was resolved.

 

Next up: 2 Sea days

Edited May 21, 2016 by ruachsm

[mz-s]

I really want to do a Bermuda cruise as our next. Too bad they don't do many.

[ruachsm]

Sea Days- I love them! The relaxation on the water, Sleeping in, and the sea day brunch. The downside is that the Casino is open all day so they take my money lol. These days are very laid back. Comedian Derrick Eason did incredible and had several jokes that mad me laugh out loud. Meanwhile Kim Harrison was not funny at all to me. To each his own. The Playlist Productions were not as good as normal. They offered the Same shows that I have seen many times in Motor City and The Brits. This particular cruise the cast seemed to not have the vocal talent and missed several cues. Meanwhile at dinner I enjoyed several of these

 

Next Up- Bermuda

Edited May 21, 2016 by ruachsm

[ruachsm]

I really want to do a Bermuda cruise as our next. Too bad they don't do many.

 

 

They are doing another cruise to Bermuda out of Charleston in November! We are considering going back.

[mz-s]

They are doing another cruise to Bermuda out of Charleston in November! We are considering going back.

 

I saw that! Might do it too, but I really don't want to go back on the Ecstasy until she's dry-docked. Was just on her Apr 30-May 7 and she is not in good shape in my opinion, compared to the Fantasy before she left Charleston.

 

Looking at doing a 5 day in Feb-Mar next year after her dry dock. Bermuda will probably have to wait.

[waywyrd]

We were on that cruise with you - totally agree about the comedians. I won't go see Kim again but Derrick was hilarious.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review...

[RuthlessBoss]

I saw that! Might do it too, but I really don't want to go back on the Ecstasy until she's dry-docked. Was just on her Apr 30-May 7 and she is not in good shape in my opinion, compared to the Fantasy before she left Charleston.

 

Looking at doing a 5 day in Feb-Mar next year after her dry dock. Bermuda will probably have to wait.

 

Was the ship falling apart?:eek:

[blainesterrr]

Following! Interested in taking a Bermuda cruise next.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[evandbob]

Following! Interested in taking a Bermuda cruise next.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I'm going to Bermuda the Memorial Day w/e, NCL Breakaway leaves NYC on Sunday during Fleet week and spends Wed, Thurs and Fri in Bermuda.

 

Got a free specialty dining package for the week too when I booked.

[ruachsm]

Bermuda-

This place is beautiful! One of the greatest things about it is that there were no pushy sales people waiting outside the terminal to hassle you. We docked on a Sunday at 8am and it was pouring down rain. Seeing that we were there until Tuesday we decided to wait out the rain which stopped around 11. We actually had no plan on what to do so we were just going to go with the flow. After getting off the ship there was a man holding a sign that simply said "Tours with Leon". We approached him and asked what kind of tour. He said a full tour of the island that lasted 4 hours. We decided to take the tour that costed us $47 per person, and were so glad that we did! He showed us so many things that we would have never known was there! I have his contact information if anyone is interested.

 

This photo is of a government graveyard. All other graves were dug 7 feet deep and stacked caskets on top of each other seeing that land is hard to come by.

 

He took us to the first fort on the island that was built years ago when they were worried that another country was going to invade them.

 

Next stop was the tallest lighthouse on the island. You could climb 168 steps and get some incredible views

 

At this point we had traveled a ways from the dockyard

 

Leon showed us the city of Hamilton which was mainly shut down because of it being Sunday. Bermuda is a very religious island.

 

TO BE CONTINUED....

[ruachsm]

Hamilton is a very quite city on Sunday's!

 

The next stop on our tour was the historic part of the island In St Georges

 

The last picture is some of the graves that they stack 3 caskets in

 

The oldest church on the island

 

After a few minutes of shopping we headed back to the port. I found a picture of our tour guide Leon

 

When arriving back in the dockyard we got to experience the Bermuda Gombay dancers

 

That's all from day 1 in Bermuda. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. One piece of advice. After the tour we went back to the ship for dinner. The island is very expensive. A cheeseburger at some shops were priced at $22-$30.

 

Next Up- Day 2 in Bermuda

[MCFTJCH2V]

They are doing another cruise to Bermuda out of Charleston in November! We are considering going back.

 

The best time to do Bermuda is July and August. It's too bad Carnival is blocked out from those months. I thought I had an annual trip back in the early 00's when they started doing them, but alas it was only for one season. So we take another line to get back there every year.

[ruachsm]

Sorry is has taken so long to update.

 

Day 2 in Bermuda-

 

We started off this day by having lunch on the Lido before going out to explore. Today we wanted to get our souvenirs purchased and spend some time and the beach. Located where the ship docks is the clock tower mall.

 

This was a small shopping area. Like a tiny version of the charleston market. You could pretty much find a little of everything in here. T-shirts, pictures, Christmas ornaments, ice creme, and even local fudge. There were also a few shops that offered free wifi with a purchase which we took advantage of to FaceTime loved ones. Everything in Bermuda shopping wise shuts down at 6pm. Keep that in mind when planning. After spending about 3 hours shopping we headed back to the ship to change into our swim gear for the beach. A small side note. In the royal dockyard area there is a free train that circles the shops for free. It runs about every 15-20 minutes.

 

After changing we decided to take a taxi to the beach. Keep in mind that the cheapest option is the bus to the beach, which you can do for $4.50 each way. We decided on a taxi because we didn't want to wait for the bus to do the full circle before returning to the ship. A taxi round trip to the beach was $80! Told you things were more expensive in Bermuda [emoji6]. We had 4 people in our group so we paid the $20 per person and didn't mind because we wanted to return to the ship quicker. Let me just say that the beach was my favorite part of the trip. It was beautiful and so peaceful.

 

Horseshoe Bay is the more popular beach in Bermuda. There you can rent chairs and umbrellas. They also have a snack bar available. However, we decided that we would miss the crowds and many of the photos that you see above are from warrick long bay. We asked the taxi driver for a less crowded but enjoyable beach and he delivered! There were no more than 10 people at this location.

 

Next up. Sea day and conclusion

[Shake-n-Bake]

Bermuda-

This place is beautiful! One of the greatest things about it is that there were no pushy sales people waiting outside the terminal to hassle you. We docked on a Sunday at 8am and it was pouring down rain. Seeing that we were there until Tuesday we decided to wait out the rain which stopped around 11. We actually had no plan on what to do so we were just going to go with the flow. After getting off the ship there was a man holding a sign that simply said "Tours with Leon". We approached him and asked what kind of tour. He said a full tour of the island that lasted 4 hours. We decided to take the tour that costed us $47 per person, and were so glad that we did! He showed us so many things that we would have never known was there! I have his contact information if anyone is interested.

I am very interested. I will be there this Sunday morning and would like to use him.

[ruachsm]

I am very interested. I will be there this Sunday morning and would like to use him.

 

 

Leon Smith

(441)334-9879

Leonsmith9879@gmail.com

Taxi 1688

[Shake-n-Bake]

Leon Smith

(441)334-9879

Leonsmith9879@gmail.com

Taxi 1688

Thank you so much. I will get in touch with him.

[misslucy01]

Thank you

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.