The Good, Bad and the Ugly of the September 30th Ecstasy sailing

[Clarea]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[VolzCruiser]

After Princess Cay our next port of call was supposed to be Freeport but when we got up and checked the ship cam and didn’t see a port we pretty much knew it was going to be sea day and 5 minutes later the Captain came on and said as much. With our day up in the air it was time to readjust and that we did. There really wasn’t anyway to spend much time on the upper decks as they were closed so it really forced people to stay indoors and so space became a premium. So I did what I like to do when I have an almost complete dark room and that is take a nap. I did get up to go check out Wonder Woman in the back theater and it was a nice passing of time. The did have another movie later, I think it was Transformers but I wasn’t interested. I did try a milkshake and I really enjoyed it. It was just a nice peaceful sea day and it was needed.

 

 

The last sea day was a lot like the missed Freeport day. I will say that you should really pay attention to the departure show as there are some new procedures about getting off the ship. Not sure if they are doing this for the whole fleet or just ships sailing out of Charleston. Carnival has gone to informing you that you can depart by television. No more of this calling out of decks or group. You just pay attention to the TV and it will tell you when to proceed to the elevators to leave. I thought that it was one of the best ideas they have come up and if it isn’t fleet wide it needs to be. The was another peaceful day and not complaints coming from me as I like those kind of day.

Debarkation was a breeze. I got up went and picked up our two bottles of Vodka that we bought in the Galleria store, had breakfast, and was off the ship and getting a cab at 7:30 and I didn’t do self-assist.

[VolzCruiser]

Here are the last thoughts I have about the cruise

 

 

The staff are some of the best I have sailed with, always friendly and helpful

 

 

I didn't eat in the Dining Room much for Dinner as it seemed they really needed some more time to get things settled. I really do think as Chad had told me this was a training ship

 

 

While I know this ship just came out of Dry Dock in January,I couldn't believe the state of this ship. Multiple ICE and Drink machines down for the whole cruise. One of the Glass Elevators didn't run at all and the other was down for a least a day.

 

 

The crew did an excellent job of keep the ship clean and with as much as it was rocking and moving I am sure they had to work double time and they did a really good job.

 

 

With all the bad and ugly I would still say I had a good time and would take this cruise this again. A cruise day is better than a work day and I like my job.

 

 

 

I will be glad to answer any questions I can.

Edited October 11, 2017 by VolzCruiser

[JaniceB]

Did they have the cabin steward move your bags for you? Also, did they give you any extra's because of the this?

[VolzCruiser]

Did they have the cabin steward move your bags for you? Also, did they give you any extra's because of the this?

 

We didn't ask for a cabin steward to move us so I can't say if they would or wouldn't. Didn't get anything extra I was just happy to not having to get up early every morning and being able to take a nap when I wanted to.

[regnig]

Yep there sure were better ways to handle the tender issue but none of them were employed. Additionally there was no way the ship didn't know about the problem until 3pm as I believe the 1st tender broke down prior to 230p. While everyone got back to the ship safely it was a bit frustrating that no one on the Cay was keeping the crowd informed as to the situation.

 

I also agree that while the inside of the ship was being kept very neat and clean the outside, including the verandas were full of rust and in much need of paint.

 

Staff was excellent and once aware of one's name always used it.... Most impressive!

 

Wednesday night (day we missed Freeport) the ship was really really rocking and rolling. While some of us slept very well there were two gals down the hall from our stateroom who slept in their life jackets. While I initially got a good chuckle out of that in retrospect I felt very sorry that they were that terrified.

 

If any of you are traveling with kids I must shout out kudos to the youth program on the ship. We had a 12 year older with us and she just loved the Circle "C" (12 to 14) program and Regina who was the staff running the program.

 

And for all of you wondering, for all the "problems" VolzCruiser experienced never was he, or his beautiful bride, without smile and an a wonderful attitude.

[Medtech2]

 

The last sea day was a lot like the missed Freeport day. I will say that you should really pay attention to the departure show as there are some new procedures about getting off the ship. Not sure if they are doing this for the whole fleet or just ships sailing out of Charleston. Carnival has gone to informing you that you can depart by television. No more of this calling out of decks or group. You just pay attention to the TV and it will tell you when to proceed to the elevators to leave. I thought that it was one of the best ideas they have come up and if it isn’t fleet wide it needs to be. The was another peaceful day and not complaints coming from me as I like those kind of day.

Debarkation was a breeze. I got up went and picked up our two bottles of Vodka that we bought in the Galleria store, had breakfast, and was off the ship and getting a cab at 7:30 and I didn’t do self-assist.

 

They do a silent debarkation because the ship docks early in a residential area....people are sleeping. If they made a lot of noise and woke the populace Carnival would not have much of a future here...

[Ocean Dancer]

They do a silent debarkation because the ship docks early in a residential area....people are sleeping. If they made a lot of noise and woke the populace Carnival would not have much of a future here...

That's good to know. We had a silent one Royal's Anthem. We did not wake up at the crack of dawn, had a leisurely breakfast, and by the time we checked our number is was long called, so we left the ship. Our luggage was easy to find and no shoving or pushing.

[Silent Penguin]

Once we get there I notice the tenders aren't headed out there are just sitting there and not going to the ship. So I am now in line and will be here for two hours. Standing in this line could of been worse at least it was covered and had ceiling fans moving the air but there should have been no reason to have people standing in line for this length of time. The ugly in this is due to Carnival not having a plan in place in a situation like this. A simple solution would have been to ask everyone to get out of line and have them head over to the covered areas to keep cool, open up the bar so that refreshments could be served, crank up the music. This would of given cruisers a relaxing way of dealing with an unpleasant situation. They could have gone swimming or even had access to the facilities. I just feel that as a large corporation like Carnival should have plans in place for situation like this. I work for a small corporation and we have plans in place for when things go wrong. It wasn't as if this situation was too hard to predict everyone knows at some time a vehicle won’t preform as intended.

 

I completely agree. Not doing anything makes people feel undervalued. Even if it wasn't possible to open up the bar, just moving people into a better waiting situation sounds doable. Anything that acknowledges their situation would help. You don't have to be Disney Cruise Line to know that.

[VolzCruiser]

They do a silent debarkation because the ship docks early in a residential area....people are sleeping. If they made a lot of noise and woke the populace Carnival would not have much of a future here...

 

Yes I agree and have read a lot of the issues between Carnival and some of the Local Residents. I have sailed out of Charleston 3 other times this is the first time they have used this system and was really impressed. I think they should do this on some of the other ships just seemed to make alot of sense.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

The TV "silent debarkation" is a Charleston thing only I believe. I love it. Each time cruising from Charleston has been the quickest that we have ever departed.

[NYHartChapp]

We don't have it. And I was asking if you did. I didn't think you could go to your cabin early if you didn't have it.

 

 

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You can if you're Diamond or Platinum members.

[NYHartChapp]

Thanks for your review. We're looking forward to our 11/30 sailing!

[regnig]

Not that it makes a big difference but HAL has done silent disembarkation for at least 7 years. Based on the color/number of your bag tags they give you and estimate of what time you should disembark. They encourage you to stay in your stateroom leaving common areas free of the masses. They also allow you to order "full" room service breakfast. Sure makes the entire event very stress free and civilized.

Edited October 12, 2017 by regnig