Best Vacation in a long time !! by
Tami R from spring, texas
Sailing date: Sep 2009 Pros:
Casino and Food
Cons:
Cost of Drinks
We had a great time on the Ecstasy. The crew and staff were so nice.
Ship Quality Everything was easy to find and get too. Really enjoyed the Lido deck--spent alot of time out there.
Dining/Food Really enjoyed the food in the Dining room as well as the Buffets. Great selection and the highest quality of food. Loved the wait staff !! They really went out of their way to make our dining a true pleasurable experience. The Cappuchino pie was my FAV !!!
Stateroom Quality Our stateroom was cleaned everytime we came back to the room, not just once a day like the hotels . It was always clean with fresh linens !! Loved the Towel sculptures !
Ship Staff Quality Everyone seemed so friendly and helpful. Loved the Casino staff--Had a lot of fun !
Entertainment & Activities We stayed in the Casino most of the time--but was happy with the other choices that were available
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Fantastic Cruise by
Jenny A from DFW
Sailing date: Aug 2009 Pros:
Time with my family no phone or computers to take their time.
Cons:
Too short
Ship was great had a fantastic time.
Ship Quality After learning the layout it was fine
Dining/Food Wow great food. chocolate cake was yummy
Stateroom Quality nice room did not spend much time there.
Ship Staff Quality Denny at the dinner was fantastic his recommendations were right on target every day. Just let him suggest for you everyday you will not be dissapointed.
Entertainment & Activities Dancer show did not do it for me.
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Cozumel, Mexico Honestly if you just visit the little shopping village where the boat docks you can have a great day. No real point in taking all day to look around.
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A GREAT CRUISE! by
Alvin from Dallas, Texas
Sailing date: Aug 2009 Pros:
The crew on the Carnival Ecstacy were very friendly and helpful.
Cons:
Getting home and leaving the ship.
We had a great time. We saved a lot of money by booking with hotwire. We plan to do it again next year but for seven days instead of five. We have recommended Hotwire to many other people for both cruises and for hotel rooms. Being able to leave from Galveston saved us airfare expenses.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
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Fantastic trip by
Mike B. from Dallas, TX
Sailing date: Aug 2009 Pros:
Beautiful ship, tremendous staff
Cons:
non-stop marketing
This was a great ship - always very clean, easy to move about even with about 3,000 people on board.
The room was always well taken care of and we never had to request anything; all that we could have needed was anticipated and prepared.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food Evening dining was well prsented and you have many selctions of all types including vegetarian if desired. The dining staff is hilarious and very professional. So many dining options for any meal and continuous access to a buffet if your schedule doesn't match the preset times.
Stateroom Quality The daily towel sculptures were amusing and we anticipated the daily preparation when we returned each evening.
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities Even on days at sea there are many activities - we had to check the daily newsletter and plan which ones to participate in and were never anxious to return home.
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Cozumel, Mexico Playa Mia deluxe package is well worth it - friednly, ciurteous staff. If you speak a little Spanish they are very appreciative and go beyond fantastic to take care of you. Cleaner than some beaches we have seen previously.
Progreso (Merida), Mexico Take the bus ride to the ruins as you can see traditional and actual streets and residences.
Don't Miss: Take the Mayan ruins tour - amazing to see.
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Have Had Better Cruises...but still FUN by
Ellen H from Dallas, TX
Sailing date: Jul 2009 Pros:
Friendliness of all staff
Cons:
Food was average. Lots of it, of course, but mediocre on quality.
Overall impression: favorable.
Ship Quality Public areas, especially on entry level seemed small and cramped.
Dining/Food Our wait staff was excellent! Always pleasant, always helpful, always called us by our name. The food quality was average. Of course, there's an abundance of all food, but quantity overmatched quality. Salads on the buffet line were always cool, not cold.
Stateroom Quality Our outside cabin featured a kingsize bed with a bunk twin. It was very comfortable for 3 adults!
Ship Staff Quality Especially, our wait staff in dining room was excellent. We enjoyed our nightly dining experience because of them.
One call to the purser's desk about a plumbing problem...and promptly someone was there to correct the problem.
Entertainment & Activities The nightly shows were fair...honestly, nothing memorable EXCEPT for one comedian, Happy Cole. He was excellent.
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Cozumel, Mexico We took the shore excursion, "High Adventure....Ziplining". We were disappointed. The advertisement showed a jungle atmosphere. It was hardly that. We ended up going back to the ship area after this excusion and taking our own cab to a beach and renting snorkel equipment. That proved to be less expensive and more fun!
Progreso (Merida), Mexico We took one shore excursion: Mayan Ruins combo with Beach Tour. Price: $75 pp. The guide did a good job of giving an overview of the history of the Mayans in the Yucatan and the city of Progresso. Once we got to the ruins, it was a laborious speech....too much information!! Then on to the beach. It was a dirty beach with unlimited "open bar". Well, the drinks were cool (not cold), and we could only stay at the beach for one hour (even though we were bussed back to the ship area 2 hours prior to departure!). Because of the poor quality of the beach, we were not disappointed to leave early, but we felt it didn't live up to its advertised hype.
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The weather was great! by
Mike D. from Las Vegas, NV
Sailing date: Feb 2009 Cons:
smoke in the casino, food in the buffet, tv in the rooms, excessive smoke in the aft of the ship
This was my 4th Carnival cruise and by far the worst. If you like to gamble and you don't smoke stay away from the casino. There are 13 machines that are smoke free, but you are surrounded by smokers and it's hard to catch your breathe. I normally will spend around 300-400 and this trip I spent 50. The buffet is something else, eggs are not fully cooked and the sausage was cool on several days. The rest of the buffet was good. Food service staff was great! The smokers bar in the aft of the ship was unreal, smoke just engulfed the stairwell and you can hardly breathe when you use the stairs. Ship designers couldn't come up when a door system to keep the smoke in the bar area. The TV system on the ship was very poor, purser kept saying that they were working on it, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX could not be seen. Had to put up with CNN for the entire week. The window view was non-existent, there was a salt film on the window left after they had cleaned them while in Galveston. The cruise director could learn a lesson in management. He was talking while folks were gathering on the wrong deck while debarking the ship on Sat. The folks that did follow the directions were penalized by these folks jumping in front of them on the debarking deck.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food Buffet only, did not use the dining room.
Stateroom Quality I've had better. Royal Caribbean is the standard for the industry.
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
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nice little getaway by
Rich S from DFW, TX
Sailing date: Jan 2009 Pros:
friendly staff
Cons:
wish there was a play area where you can sit with children instead of having to drop them off
The ecstasy is a nice ship and worth a 4 night cruise. The carpet in the rooms was a little old, but the ship was clean. The floors have different names (instead of numbers) which made it a little confusing to get around the 1st couple days..
Ship Quality
Dining/Food The food is ok at the buffet, and good at the sit down restaurant. The pizzeria is good, but you only get 1 slice at a time (although I didn't request an entire one I am sure they may give you one). You have to pay extra for bottled water and coke...If you can pack your own then do so as the free water on the ship tastes terrible!! The alcohol also get a little pricey as well.
Stateroom Quality Me, my wife and our 1 and 3 yr old slept comfortably on a king size bed, and also had another fold out bed from the wall available but didn't need.
Ship Staff Quality like most cruise ships, the staff were extremely friendly.
Entertainment & Activities Good shows and funny comedian. It would be nice if they posted the show schedules online so that you could plan your days ahead of time instead of the night before which is hard to do with little kids.
Children's Programs Great for kids older than 3-4 yrs old. They don't babysit kids under 2 yrs old until after 10 PM-it only cost $6/hr + $4 for each add'l child. It would be nice if they had a play area where parents could sit with children & let them play. Instead, most of the day there are planned activities for children that are dropped off (which is great for the older kids). They do have a nice selection of toys and a friendly staff.
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Cozumel, Mexico We went to Playa Mia....didnt book thru cruise, but at the port. Great little beach/restaurant/playground/ watersports for the little kids. perfect for a few hrs. It was free for kids and $39 per adult (for the all inclusive drinks option) or I think $20 pp for only entry fee.
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skip progreso by
Tommy P from Newton,TX
Sailing date: Dec 2008 Pros:
food and shows
Cons:
limited port time
1st cruise, loved the ship, plenty to do onboard
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality It was our 1st cruise, but the staff seem to assume that everyone knew where to go and what ot do as soon as they came aboard.
Entertainment & Activities
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Cozumel, Mexico Great shopping for jewelry or gifts, beautiful beaches
Progreso (Merida), Mexico terrible tour to Mayan ruins, would have been better with a decent tour guide and without a 30 minute delay at start of tour
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Carnival Ecstasy 10/23/2008 by
Exalton W from Beaumont,Tx
Sailing date: Oct 2008 Pros:
friendly staff
Cons:
The ship had stability problems constantly rocking,the food was second rate with very little variety.
The ship had stability problems constantly rocking,the food was second rate with very little variety.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Children's Programs
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Rockiet boat with cutbacks by
KrisW from houston, TX
Sailing date: Oct 2008 Pros:
Hospitality was good, the best service
Cons:
This boat had engine trouble, food seemed subpar compared to past cruises.
I am not sure what happened, my husband and I hypothesized that since this is the off season with lower rates they cut back on a few things like breakfast, instead of having 2 to 4 omelet stations there was only one. The other stuff was like a gradeschool caffeteria. But we should have been told if there were a problem with the stabilizer, that boat rocked us to sleep morning, noon and night. Not to mention we had a medical emergency.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
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Cozumel, Mexico Needed better entertainment (comedian was bad) and better games with prizes to get more people involved.
Don't Miss: The jeep adventure to Sur Punta beach.
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