Me and my two DDs on Ecstasy for 5 days! Mini-ish review

[ninjacat123]

That title sounds bad (like we are on illicit drugs) but we were so happy to be on the oldest ship in Carnival’s fleet!  Here we go!

The drive down:

I have driven all by myself to Port Canaveral from my home which is 8.5 hours.  Mobile is a whopping 9 hours but hey, we gain an hour so it’s gonna be a breeze.  And I have a 22 year old and a 20 year old who can take driving shifts.  Unless they don’t wake up…snoring is heard from the back seat.  Traffic is okay since we started out at 7:30am.  And then it wasn’t, ugh.  We arrived In Mobile around 5:30, 6:30 Mommy time.  Checked into the Hampton Inn which was spitting distance from the port.  Our room was fine with a view of said port.  DDs and I walked five minutes to dinner at The Noble South.  High ceilings and whitewashed brick lent a funky, elegant charm. We sat at the bar since the next available reservation was 7:30. Delicious food and yummy cocktails made our night in Mobile great!

Embarkation:

Woke up to a whale tail outside my bedroom window!  The DDs and I gathered our stuff and headed over to the port.  Five minutes later, we were waiting in line to access the parking lot.  I pulled up the parking QR and paid, then got our spot.  Verifly expedited our on board process and by 11:00am we were making our cabin our new home.  It was small but fortunately I was able to score an upgrade to a balcony. Our room steward Pande was there, taking care of extra requests like more bath towels (we three have a lot of hair), robes and ice. I was surprised that our room didn’t have a fridge.  Not the end of the world but ice was necessary. We changed into swimsuits from our carryon backpacks and camped out on Serenity.  Sail away was from our balcony. Thal, Pande’s assistant was efficient and sweet.

 

Food:

We were happy with MDR, our 8:15 dining staff of James and Manoj and everything else we ate. Gina, who sat next to me at MDR was a wonderful tablemate.  Pizza Pirate was crisp and tasty.  Guys Burger (I was the only one to eat one) was yummy but not as great as the one on Mardi Gras. Port day breakfast (by myself) was tasty, corned beef hash with a poached egg.  Sea Day Brunch we enjoyed the Chia pudding, eggs benedict and steak and eggs.  Not filet but tasty.  The DDs grabbed lunch on Lido a couple of days and were pleased with the offerings.  Room service breakfast was prompt and the coffee was hot. Yay!

Entertainment:

Saw Motor City and it was a lot of fun!  Lots of dancing, singing and costume changes. This is what I look forward to when I cruise.  We went to The Brits and left after five minutes since it was all about sitting on stools and singing. So we went to the casino to play roulette.  Yes, I introduced my DDs to the wonderful world of throwing your money away. We played for about a half an hour, they each lost $25 and I remained even.  We had a great time watching the big betters as we did the $5 minimum.

My youngest DD sang at karaoke and I was super proud.  Singing Ariana Grande is no easy feat and she carried it off very well!

Costa Maya:

I had been to The Krazy Lobster with my mom last October, so I was excited to go back.  We took a cab ($12) to Mahahual and we were led to our beachside table.  It was a breezy day but service was great and we had lobster for lunch with margaritas.  I had an hour massage under the palm trees, the DDs had 30 minutes each.  Great day!

Cozumel:

The weather was rainy off and on so we decided to shop and find a fun bar.  We found Mexican blankets to purchase and then ended up on swings at Fat Tuesdays.  We got brain freeze over strawberry daiquiri, margarita and pina colada all while wearing bunny ears.  We were pleased with our day and headed back before more rain came in.

Serenity:

I met some really nice people (Brenda & Keith, Ashley & Lawrence) and also got to know our Serenity staff, Made and I Putu.  Love the view off the back of the ship as I got sunburned. The last sea day Serenity was busy but I could still find chairs. 

Debarkation:

I knew this was going to happen.  Ugh.  We got our suitcases together the night before but it was still so sad to leave.  And have a 9 hour drive home.  And gain that hour back.  Argh! We made it back, our pets were happy to see us and my husband (yes, somebody had to stay home and work) was thrilled to have his house of estrogen once again.

I know Ecstasy is only around till October but if you have questions, please ask away.  If I can’t answer them another CC member will probably chime in.  Thanks for reading!

 

[ninjacat123]

Here are some pics:

 

The Noble South in Mobile

[ninjacat123]

View from our room at Hampton Inn

[mz-s]

The Brits usually isn't sitting on stools - but I have experienced that on other ships (in addition to Ecstasy), I think they do that when they can't practice or if the ship is moving too much for them to safely do their routines.

 

I love Ecstasy and will sorely miss her when she is gone for good.

[ninjacat123]

Our Ecstasy room

[ninjacat123]

Serenity

[ninjacat123]

Cozumel

[ninjacat123]

Sorry the Cozumel pics are wacky🙈

[icft]

4 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

That title sounds bad (like we are on illicit drugs) ...

 

 

I'm ashamed to say it wasn't the drugs that lured me here. It was the "Me and my two DD's." I should be better than that...

[geochick73]

Thanks for sharing!   We are going on the Ecstasy in 3 weeks and I can't wait...it's been 10 years since we've cruised.  How did you find the food on board?   We've never been to Costa Maya and we were thinking about going to the Krazy Lobster...how was the beach there?   I've read that the sargassum is bad this year, but you didn't mention it so I was wondering if you noticed it.

[ninjacat123]

7 hours ago, geochick73 said:

Thanks for sharing!   We are going on the Ecstasy in 3 weeks and I can't wait...it's been 10 years since we've cruised.  How did you find the food on board?   We've never been to Costa Maya and we were thinking about going to the Krazy Lobster...how was the beach there?   I've read that the sargassum is bad this year, but you didn't mention it so I was wondering if you noticed it.

The Krazy Lobster has a barrier net to prevent the sargassum from entering the swim area.  The MDR food was fine.  The rest was tasty as well. I would have liked the option of a steakhouse or Cucina Del Capitano but it was fine regardless.  I ordered a wine package so I always had my drink ready.  My tablemate Gina had to wait till mid dinner to get her drink, just keep that in mind...

[BlerkOne]

11 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

The Krazy Lobster has a barrier net to prevent the sargassum from entering the swim area.  The MDR food was fine.  The rest was tasty as well. I would have liked the option of a steakhouse or Cucina Del Capitano but it was fine regardless.  I ordered a wine package so I always had my drink ready.  My tablemate Gina had to wait till mid dinner to get her drink, just keep that in mind...

The ship does have an Alchemy Bar. Order a cocktail to take to dinner. Problem solved.

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

The ship does have an Alchemy Bar. Order a cocktail to take to dinner. Problem solved.

You bet!  We hit the Alchemy Bar every night before dinner.  My cocktail didn't last till dinner😜.

[aggie182]

Leaving on the Ecstasy on Friday, thanks for the report.  Our main purpose of this trip to to cross a Fantasy Class ship off the list before they go extinct.

 

[BlerkOne]

14 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

You bet!  We hit the Alchemy Bar every night before dinner.  My cocktail didn't last till dinner😜.

Get another one with wheels 

 

[cruisingguy007]

Great review! Glad to see folks having a great time on cruises! These types of reviews make me want to jump on a ship. 😃

[Dadofsix]

Great review! We got off Ecstasy a week ago and also had a blast. Its funny mentioned I Putu on Serenity because I just got done writing lengthy survey about how awesome he was on our trip. This last cruise showed us how these small ships have their own kind of charm and we booked another one for the end of this month.

[rmandmm]

Thanks for this review! I board next week for my first ever solo and I was wondering how Serenity would be as I plan to park myself there a good bit of the time. Glad to hear food was decent and drinks were plentiful as I too am looking forward to using my drinks package!

 

Thanks for the review also of Noble South. Do you have any specific recommendations? 

[ninjacat123]

25 minutes ago, rmandmm said:

Thanks for this review! I board next week for my first ever solo and I was wondering how Serenity would be as I plan to park myself there a good bit of the time. Glad to hear food was decent and drinks were plentiful as I too am looking forward to using my drinks package!

 

Thanks for the review also of Noble South. Do you have any specific recommendations? 

We had the Pepper Jelly/Blue Cheese Mousse w/ toast, very tasty.  The quiche was excellent! The broccolini w/ crab was good but really rich.  We finished off with Peach Cobbler which my DDs said it was great!  I'm not a fan of cobbler and I was getting full.  Drinks-wise I had an old fashioned and my legal age DD had a Citrus Pop which was gin, lemon aperitif, yellow chartreuse, lavender and agave. Both were delish! Have fun on Serenity and please say hi to Made (in charge of towels) and I Putu (drink server) from Bethany.  Get to Serenity early, like before 8am because there are only 4 umbrellas and the deck fills up quickly. I hope you have a great cruise!

Edited June 7, 2022 by ninjacat123

[rmandmm]

That all sounds delightful! I'll try to pass on all the greetings!