My review of Ecstasy 12/23 sailing

[swells2345]

Let me start by saying this was my first cruise so I had nothing to compare it to... but I thought it was great. The weather was pretty chilly except for the day in Cozumel. Of course it also snowed in Galveston for the first time in many years while we were gone so I guess it was to be expected. From speaking with other cruisers, the seas were pretty rough a couple of days. One night I noticed barf bags stuck by the elevators. :eek: But the ginger pills that someone suggested on these boards worked well for me. The day that I felt queasy I took the pills faithfully every 4 hours and after the first set had time to get in my system I was fine. This was also the same day they were talking about cancelling the evening show because the ship was rocking so much they were afraid the dancers would get hurt! But it finally levelled out and the show was great.

 

The ship was decorated very nice for Christmas. Formal night was fun (I bought way too many of the pictures). We ate in the WindSong dining room everynight for dinner. Our dinner companions (we only had three for a total of 6 at a table that would seat 11) were great people who we enjoyed very much. Our waitstaff was great and very accommodating to my kids. The other meals we usually ate either on the Lido deck by the pool or in the Panaroma grill - all was great. We ordered room service twice in the middle of the afternoon with few complaints. Our room steward was Carlos and we loved him - the kids insisted on taking a picture with him before we left.

 

Other than the rough seas, my only disappointment was Camp Carnival. For my kids it wasn't as great as I had been led to believe. My kids went three times (one morning for 2 hours, one afternoon for 2 hours and one late evening for one hour). My 5 yr old seemed to enjoy it okay but my 9 yr old was bored for the most part. In fact, on the late evening she ended up helping to babysit the younger kids! There were lots of kids on the ship but Camp Carnival never seemed to be too crowded. Maybe it was just my kids - I don't know. But I was disappointed because this meant there was very little 'me' time.

 

Cozumel was great. We went downtown first, did a litlle shopping, happened upon a Christmas mass right on the street corner and then did minigolf. The minigolf was a lot of fun. Met Scott who seems like a genuinely nice guy. The minigolf was especially nice because it is shaded and gets you out of the hot sun for a while. I highly recommend it! We then headed to PB for the rest of the day. I didn't meet Tom but it was all I had expected. We had a great and relaxing time there with excellent service!

 

Overall, it was a wonderful trip made even better by the tips I got from this board. I only met up with one of my cruisecritic buddies (Bob who actually tracked me down - thank goodness). I don't know how helpful this is - I will be glad to answer questions.

Sherry

[FEMH]

swells2345:

 

Thanks for your review! Sounds like you had a great time! We sail on Jan. 20 and are very excited!

[ginag]

Enjoyed your review! We were on the 12/4 sailing and had a marvelous time! I just haven't had time since the holidays to write a review, but it was perfect....even the weather was superb and HOT!

We met up w/ Fighterone and her DH Zoomer from these boards, and now we all are life-long friends! We're even planning our next cruise together for December 05. Try and have a Meet & Greet for your sailing and meet your CC friends....you never know what lasting friendships you will make!

[Txcruisers04]

Hey thanks for the review!Hey who was your waiters?

[ginag]

Our waiters were Dennis and Jimmy and they were a great team. We had a few demanding people at our table and I'm sure they tested Jimmy and Dennis' patience a few times, but they were always happy to please and had smiles a mile wide! We ate in the Wind Song dining room (early) table # 242. As usual, the food was great and well presented the whole week.

[swells2345]

Txcruisers,

 

I knew someone would ask me the names of our waiters! :rolleyes: I couldn't pronounce them then and can't even remember how to spell them now. We were late seating table 280. Both waiters had heavy accents (I would guess nationalities such as Sri Lankan but wouldn't swear to that). We did have a little trouble understanding them sometimes but they were super nice and accommodating. I was worried about my kids especially ds who is 5 yrs old doing okay in the dining room. But our waiters were very kind and patient with them and our dinner companions Robert, Terri and Cameron were awesome. We had such a good time that we went to the dining room every night! DS ordered cheese pizza every single night and after the second night, the waiters would just ask him 'Cheese pizza?'. And then he was VERY insistent that he wanted ice cream for dessert - a scoop of strawberry with a scoop of chocolate ON TOP. Can you believe our waiter actually did it? :D I don't know how he managed it but he did. So actually the part of the cruise I was kind of dreading (formal dining) turned out to be one of the best parts. And to see my 9 yr old DD ordering a full course meal like a grown up was amazing.

 

Sorry, you asked a simple question and I gave you a book! Can you tell we liked our waiters and dinner companions? :D

 

Sherry

[dwell]

Swells, thanks for your reviews. We are going in Feb, with our DS 6, and DD 9. Your comments about dinner and the patience of the waiters are very encouraging. :)

[Beachgirl13]

Swells2345

 

You stated the weather was chilly, except for the day in Cozumel...Well, my family is going on the Ecstacy 1/15, and we were wondering what clothes to pack! Can you tell me, will we need long pants and a jacket, or can we wear capris or shorts during the day. Could you swim on the ship, or was it too cold?Thanks! This is our first winter cruise and I appreciate the help with our packing list!

[lucyjohnz]

Just thought I'd mention that the typical weather in Galveston in January is probably 40-65 degress with 50-60 degrees being typical. We've been on 2 cruises out of Galveston (in March and June) and one out of New Orleans (in December) and found that it's still a little chilly until you get to Mexico. So, while you probably won't need warm winter wear, you'll probably want a mix of clothes - pants with light jackets, capris for closer to Mexico and shorts for Mexico. We've done several winter cruises and it never got much warmer than low 80s for the Western Caribbean and Cozumel was low 70s.

 

Should still be a nice break from wherever you're from.

[karlanee]

Beachgirl13...

 

Our family is on the Ecstasy for the Jan. 15 trip as well!! We're taking a long pair of pants, a pair of capris and a pair of shorts so we're prepared in any instance. WE're definitely taking jackets as well. So far up to next Sunday the 9th, the weather in Houston is supposed to be pretty nice.

 

Check in on the roll call boards - there is another family also who has posted on there.

 

We should meet up on board!!

[Beachgirl13]

Thanks Lucy and Karla!

I am a Texan so I am used to our crazy weather...70's today, but we had snow last week! I appreciate the packing input! Karla, I will check out the roll call and I agree, we should plan a meeting! I can't wait!!! It is almost here!

Happy New Year everyone!

[swells2345]

I would definitely take a pair or two of pants. Except for Cozumel which was upper 70's/low 80's it was chilly (60's) when you got out on deck. My kids swam the first sea day but then they roped off the pools (I assumed it was the rough seas rocking the ship so much but could have been wrong). A light jacket or sweatshirt would probably serve you well. My kids have a couple of pair of those pants that zip off into shorts so we took those and it was ideal. Happy cruising!

 

Sherry

[karlanee]

Same here about the crazy weather - Oklahoma is the same way. Two weeks ago we had low teens for temps - yesterday it was warm so we had the house windows open. Crazy!!

 

I'm not looking forward to rough seas - hopefully it won't be too bad. The Jubilee last year was horrilbe - but i think it had some problems, especially since there was such bad vibration that the silverware clinked and the ice in the glasses knocked around at dinner from the vibration of the engines. I really hope it's better than that.

 

Sherry, thanks so much for the advice on the weather and temps.

[SevenVII]

How was the debarkation process? Did it take very long, about what time did you get off the ship?

[TXRoo]

Thanks for the great info! I was really worried about taking the Ecstasy since it had quite a few bad reviews...but I've worked into the hotel industry so I know enough to understand when they are valid and when they are just whiners.

 

I do have a serious question though...I am really worried about water temps. Being from coastal South Texas, I am definitely a cold water wussy...so do I need a short wetsuit or is the water ok to swim in?

 

Oops! I forgot to mention...we are cruising on 2/7/05.

 

Thanks!

TXRoo

[swells2345]

This was my first cruise so I was a little confused on debarkation. We waited for our color to be called, went through immigration (long line but moved fast) and then were unsure what to do. They said they would call the colors to actually debark but didn't. I finally went and got in the long line with everyone else and debarked. We didn't get off until nearly 11:15 but then our ship was over an hour late getting into port because of the rough seas we encountered.

 

I thought the water temps in Cozumel were fine. They were probably upper 60's/low 70's if I had to guess with an outside temp of upper 70's.

[SevenVII]

Thanks Swells, our plane doesnt fly out till 2:30, so I just wanted to get an idea of how long of Debark galveston can be. Hopefully if we dont have the rough seas, and can somehow arrange to get off the boat fast, we shouldnt have any problems making our flight I guess.....thanks again!

[Baptpastor]

After the Captain on the Elation forgot to call our luggage tag color for debarkation, I learned from a sympathetic crew member that you don't need to wait for the Cap'n to call your luggage tag color to leave the ship - just get in line when you are ready, and leave! What are they going to do? Send you back on board?? Nope! They need all the passengers off as soon as possible so they can prepare for the next cruise.

 

The one time you really SHOULD follow proper procedure is when you need to take your passort or other ID through the immigration process. That is serious business and everyone on the ship must go through or no one gets off the boat!