Carnival Ecstacy Cruise Ship

My husband and I had an EXCELLENT time on the Ecstasy. We will definitely go back on this ship.

I felt like cattle on this cruise. There’s way too many people, which led to waiting in long lines for buffets, dinner, loading back on ship, etc. There’s one pool, which is completely packed throughout the day. We had free room service 24 hours, but what is the point if the line is busy when we call!!! We paid for wifi, which hardly works. The ship looks old, the shower curtains were very dirty and rusty. We got a balcony room, which was nice. The bed was very comfortable. We didn’t do any excursions when the ship stopped at key west and Cozumel, we took a cab to the beach and shopping areas.

This was my first cruise and my last. The wait staff was hateful and while on floor 8 being served our order was messed up ever night. If you asked the server for something he would get rude say one min and never return. If you go to floor 10 to eat the buffet it wasn’t to bad. If you plan on getting a sandwich don’t bother. The guy working that station either ignores you or just doesn’t bother staying in his station. I tried to talk to someone on the ship and I was told I will receive an email after the trip I can fill out. How is that going to fix the problem while I’m on the ship. The shows were amazing and Adam seemed nice but that isn’t enough to ever make me cruise on this ship ever again. Try having someone in the ship who can handle the problem. I work hard for my money and I feel I was better off throwing it in the trash than giving it to this cruise line.

This was my first New Years Eve cruise. This was also my first cruise on carnival. I typically sail on NCL, or RCCL. If you have never cruised during the holidays, expect to pay nearly double the rate of a regular cruise due to the high demand. Being a solo cruiser, this didn’t bother me as I often pay 200%, which NCL offers solo rooms, which are fantastic. Carnival take note! The ship itself was older, but didn’t bother me much. The color schemes in the ship were very odd!
Embarkation: The embarkation process was efficient. Unfortunately, they didn’t start boarding until 12:45, and I was on the boat at about 1:15. Carnival offers faster to the fun for $ 49.95, which allows you, and your group on the boat before the first group is boarded. If you are at the port early enough, your chances of being in the first group are pretty good. In my opinion, it wasn’t worth the added cost.
Cabin — I stayed in a inside cabin on deck 6. The cabin was quite large, with adequate storage space. There was also very little boat noise, and other noises from the hall couldn’t be heard. I recommend deck 6 for inside cabins on this ship.
Service — The service was ok. I didn’t see my cabin steward for the duration of the cruise, which was a disappointing first for me! Room service was quite good, and offered a extensive menu for no additional up-​charge. I didn’t opt for the beverage package. Mixed drinks are typically $ 8-​$ 10, and beer is about $ 6, which is on par with other cruise line prices. I would recommend the beverage package as it only takes several drinks each day to break even.
Food — I typically don’t complain about cruise food, but the food was horrible! The Ecstacy has plenty of food options, especially on the buffet, but it was all low quality. The dining room is usually my first choice for dining, but again the food was worse in the dining room! I was seated in the middle of the dining room, and they were unable to accommodate me to a more secluded table. Being a solo traveler, I felt that this was abnormal, especially with a lot of open tables. Also, they play the same loud music that should be kept by the pool in the dining room. Don’t get me started about the waiters dancing in the dining, this was a bit awkward! The sea day brunch was also very bad, and I order the filet, which was very low quality. For some reason, I had to ask my waiter five times to bring me coffee, and again I hate to complain!
Entertainment — In my opinion, this is the only thing that makes Carnival stand out. The comedy club was excellent. The comedy shows were geared towards adults and were very funny. The comedians didn’t hold back, that’s for sure! The nightclubs were also very good! The theatrical shows were average. The new years eve party was a blast! I highly recommend a new years cruise for the NYE party!
Ports — Key West, and Cozumel. Key West is one of my favorite ports. Some people wonder why you would cruise to Key West when you can drive. I think it is a more affordable way to see Key West in opinion. I opted for the Ultimate water sports excursion. Though pricey, it was a blast. In Cozumel, I did the ATV adventure, which was fun. Several notes: we docked in Key West at 8am, and left at 230pm. This didn’t provide enough time. It was a 90 minute wait for the trolley back to the ship. This was absurd as it was 85 outside, and the excursion got back at 1pm, and they didn’t provide water! Carnival doesn’t provide priority disembarkation for guests that book a excursion through them. It took over an hour to get off the ship and meet up with the excursion specialist in Cozumel! Carnival should mirror other cruise lines and give priority to guests who book excursions.
Disembarkation — The disembarkation process was painfully slow. I have never waited in such a long line to get off the ship. I elected to carry off my bags which should be straight forward. It took about 75 minutes to get off the ship, before I reached customs!
Kudos if you made it through my lengthy review! Overall, I would advise you to review all your other options with other cruise lines before booking this ship. I couldn’t help but to think that the mentality on this ship was that of a herding process with Carnival. This is especially true, at all the buffets, and at the ports of call, and to even disembark the ship. Sadly, this was my first and last cruise on Carnival!
Cheers!

So the easiest way to write this review in my opinion is by category, so here it goes:
FOOD: Our package included the buffet located on the main deck and also dinner at night and brunch on certain days on floor ⁸⁄₉. The food at the buffet stations were the same everyday except that the inside buffet had a different «flavor» each day. So while we were there (January 4 – 8, 2016) we experienced All American, French, and Italian food on and off. This is my first cruise so I wasn’t sure what to expect and with that said, what I experienced was very different to what I thought I paid for. Yes, this was indeed a very «inexpensive» cruise, so I feel like that is the main reason why the food was lacking. I am a very healthy eater and the super high calorie intake for the last five days was due to the amount of carbs they had available and lack of meat. The salad bars were gross with spoons and forks all touched by hundreds of people and just laying in the food (YUCK). The ice cream machines in the back only worked correctly one day we were there and the desserts available on the sides were also the same as the salad bar (except small children could reach and touch the food too). The additional eateries in the back was a pizza place and deli. Both places always had the longest lines and had the worst customer service – they seriously hated their jobs and made it well known. The room service was available all day and even very late at night and they had free options that was included in your package and also a few pages of food that was available for purchase.
ROOM: My room was a three person dorm style room. I say «dorm» because I lived in New York City for school and the space they gave us at the cruise reminded me of my studio dorm room – small, cramped, moldy and smelly. The bathroom had mold in the shower, a broken light fixture around the mirror, a very loud toilet and a drain that never worked. The toilet situation wasn’t exactly ideal, if your over a certain weight or height I feel as if you wouldn’t be able to use it correctly/​comfortably (my legs were touching the wall!). The drain in the shower was broken so every time we showed the water would elevate and the shower/​bathroom floor became a bathtub area and one day even leaked into/​onto the bedroom carpet (this may be why the room smelled – molded carpet). We called and they supposedly fixed it but once they «fixed» it the entire bedroom and bathroom area smelled of even more poop. We had to deal with a poop smelling dorm room styled living space for 5 whole days and just dealt with it. One of the girls from my trip actually decided to bail so our three person room turned into a more comfortable two-​person three-​bed room and so we were able to enjoy having one less packed area of the room. The bunk beds can be tucked into the wall and now that I think of it I wish that I took the top bunk instead of the bottom so that we had more room on the floor below me for space and stuff.
SERVICE:
Well right off the bat I would like to state that «James from Jamaica» was amazing. He was awesome and made our trip so much more fun, especially dinner and brunch time! The pool area service was also the best at all the bars, anyone else from anywhere else was below average. In fact, I would state that this cruise is a more «party toned» boat and therefore, the people who work the boat are also in this vibe which I could tell by their hangovers and when we ran into our customer service providers at the bars in Cozumel and Key West – they were wasted and literally smelled of mouth wash the minute we got on the cruise. The cruise director (the female one) had the worst games ever and we’re definitely catered to the 15 and below crowd as well as the 60+ cruisers.
ACTIVITIES: What activities? We literally drank, laid out and used the water slides. The pool is a joke though, as in nonexistent. The girls did go the club and casino a few times and all said was average and okay. In the end this cruise served its purpose of being a cheap bachelorette party for all of us though.

So here comes the day of the cruise. Our planes lands über early and we check in at the airport which was delightful. Our check in lady was dino-​mite. I wish they allowed us to check our bags there though cause now we have like 6 hours before our boat boards and we are lugging around stupid suitcases. Sally’s suit case almost got stolen twice at the airport by a foreign lady thinking that Sally has taken her suitcase, she has not. This lady is confused.
So we catch a cab to South beach to waste time. We get dropped off and try to find a place to eat. We stop at this little crappy place with hideous menus. We accidentally get 4, 55 ounce drinks for the 3 of us. Sally and I get drunk and Nancy has to pretend to be sober to make sure we don’t die. Once we are done, we are lugging these suitcases across the sand where we see a naked lady sunning herself. We get to the water and turn around, we have seen enough here. Drunk me hails a cab and we head to the port.
At the port we stand in lots of line, I entertained myself during this time trying to pretend to be sober. We went through some metal detectors and such and we make it aboard eventually. We find out room aka the closet. I knew our room was going to be a closet based on the price and it did not disappoint. Our room has 2 beds on the floor and 2 beds that pull out from the wall. Nancy decides to sleep in the wall bed but it was locked and we had to wait for someone that worked there to unlock this bed.
While we wait, I guess we toured the boat, I don’t remember much though. I think it took a whopping 15 minutes to see the whole boat cause this thing was small. Baby boat! We go back to the room and Sally and I pass out while Nancy blows her money on casinos and strippers minus the strippers. We wake up about 9pm and go eat. Dinner was ok. The free lemonade was harsh and had too much pulp and this is coming from someone that drinks extra pulp OJ. I think we finish dinner and go pass out.
You want to know what my favorite part of this cruise was. Sleeping. The beds were strangely comfortable and there wasn’t that much to do on the ship so sleeping was a good time passer plus Nancy and Sally don’t snore or make weird noises so that is a plus. However, it is annoying how the beds are set up. With the wall bed pulled out, Sally had to either climb over me in bed to get out or duck under Nancy’s bed to go to the bathroom. Neither were ideal so she just climbed over me, less chance of injury.
So Saturday was out day out at sea. Breakfast was disgusting. The juice was good and the grits were fine but beyond that no no no. We watched a towel folding demonstration and that went pretty well. We learned how to make an elephant and Nancy bought a book how to do it so we could make towel animals in our room. All the animals were too hard and we sucked.
I was super excited about the hairy chest competition and was so disappointed with the contestants. #1, what is the deal with men shaving their chests. Hair is manly, you all look like little girls with your smooth chest. No one likes that, be real, grow out that hair. Of the 6 contestants there were 3 smooth chested men and 2 that had barely any there. 1 man was the manliest man of all, he was beautiful. Thankfully he won over the douchey frat guy with muscles and a shaved chest or I would have boycotted the cruise.
Lunch was just as bad as breakfast then we went to bingo. Bingo, now that was a hoot. We did not win and some woman was confused by the rules and did not yell bingo when she had bingo but did the South American war cry instead and she missed out on her bingo and someone else yelled bingo the next turn and the man in the first woman’s group was butt hurt. We sat back and watch the chaos ensue. Manager were called, cruise directors were called. Finally it was decided the woman was in the wrong which was correct.
We watch the Hasbro game show, this was pretty amusing, our red team won. Then we go to fancy dinner in the fancy dining room. We get all dolled up, and we make our way to our seats. Now the food here was better than the food in the casual dining areas but it was still not great. Nothing is ever actually hot, it is always luke warm. I got the stuff mushrooms, good but coldish. Nancy decides she does not want an entrée so I get excited and ask the waiter if I could have an addition entrée being the fatty I am. He says yes so I order 2 prime ribs. Yuck, one bad pribe rib was enough. This thing looks like it was from a baby cow, it was so thin and blah. I ate them both of course but they were not enjoyable.
We finish our night off with a show and a comedy act. The guy this night was amusing and fed off the antics of our lovely Aussie host. Then we went to bed, ahh nice bed.
Unilocal will not let finish my wordy review so here you go. Bahamas=bad, bingo=good, food=bad. I finished the review somewhere else if you want to see the rest of it let me know :)

Don’t say you were never warned. The staff and ship were wonderful. HOWEVER, it’s all about the food right? Welcome to the Golden Corral on water. We are talking Tuesday night at 10:00 here folks. Long lines for really bad food. Sit down dinner was worse than the buffet. Everyone complained, big disappointment. You pay for quality, don’t be fooled by the lower prices/​deals. If you like eating sliced ham and cheese, go for it.

Watch this!
Just got back from my first cruise EVER and I must say, I’ve never been MORE happy to be back home. Talk about needing a vacation from your vacation! I’m honestly not even sure where to even BEGIN! Ok, how about we hit the minimal highlights first since they’re so far and few between? I’m going to go all-​out here and give a shout-​out to all the entertainers onboard, specially Daniel and Adrian for putting up with obnoxious idiots onboard. Kudos and thanks for salvaging SOME element of fun on our trip!
But now, let’s get down to the true grit of things. Like the basics, perhaps. That being food and shelter. Ok, so I wasn’t expecting our ‘accommodations’ to be ‘glamorous’ persay but I would expect a room booked for 3 people to have the locked 3^rd-​bed-​on-​a-​wall released for easy convenience. Should I also mentioned having to waste a majority of the day waiting for our luggage to arrive so that we could finally change into appropriate swim-​wear? Talk about a waste of the day! But continuing…
Food. Everyone needs it. And this is a ‘vacation’ so surely this food will be AMAZING, yes? Yeah, not so much. For the most part, we indulged in non-​appetizing, luke-​warm at best food. The actual dining room food was a step-​up from the buffets but not by much. Let us also discuss the water. Ugh! I’ve never been so thirsty in all my life! Guess this is how they get you to buy and chug down so much alcohol. I’d do anything to avoid that murky, shady-​tasting ‘water.’ On several occasions, I almost opted to pay the $ 4 for the bottled water in the room but my pride got the best of me. Regardless, unacceptable! Livelihood, people! But I digress.
Next! Hot tub! Or should I call it Not Hot tub! And much to our amazement, our hot tub was. .. not. .. hot. It was almost cold. So we inquired as to having the temperature adjusted and were advised that it was set as high as it could go. This my friends, is what we call lazy bullshittery. And yes, you can borrow that phrase if you so desire.
Moving on though. I spent a little time in the casino area because well, casino’s are fun! Usually. At least they WERE until I was scolded by management for accidentally cashing-​out on-​screen versus on my card. It THEN took about 15 minutes for several different transactions by multiple individuals before I could obtain my cash refund and $ 4 profit. Almost not even worth the hassle.
The shows, I previously mentioned, were pretty spectacular although I must admit, I would have liked them to have been a little longer and/​or have more of them or more variety, perhaps. But I realize they’re working with what they’ve got.
And onto the Bahamas. Whelp, you might as well stay on the boat friends because Nassau is crazy-​shady. Not to mention our Sunday excursion was cancelled and we were left to roam around on our own only to discover that practically everything was closed on Sundays. We ended up being harassed by natives at the beach who attempted to sell us all-​you-​can-​drink specials for $ 20. We also discovered that you have to pay $ 10 to rent a chair by the local hotel. Suffice it to say, we didn’t stick around long. There wasn’t much to stick around FOR. We did, however, have a delightful meal at Johnny Rockets which was sadly, the best meal of the whole trip. Totally worth $ 17 for a burger at this point.
All in all, this trip was a disaster. We made the most of what we could but I am honestly very disappointed by all that Carnival had to offer. I am now very daunted about ever taking another cruise trip but can only hope it is nothing reminiscent of the horror I experienced over this titanically depressing experience.

First off – do your research before you book a cruise and set your expectations accordingly. This ship was built in 1991, and while it has been updated many times, it is smaller and feels more outdated than other ships. That being said, the food is great, the service and entertainment are wonderful, and the Bahamas are beautiful! Given that we paid $ 220 a person total for the cruise and we got a room with a window, we had low expectations. Our expectations were exceeded! The pool area is beautiful, the casino is in good shape (with craps table), there was a fantastic band playing outside the casino each night (magic tractors), and the dinners were lovely and elegant. If you can avoid the buffets and stick to the restaurant for most meals, you should be delighted with the food. We didn’t make it to any of the shows or comedy acts but we heard good things from others. When it comes to Nassau, you can have a great time without booking any excursions. We take a taxi to Atlantis ($ 4/​person). You can walk through the inside and the gorgeous outside for FREE. This can take over an hour to walk through! Then, walk down to the beach near/​around the corner from the Atlantis and their are chairs you can rent for $ 10 a person for the full day (you need to haggle for all things in Nassau, they will likely ask you for more up front because they expect you to haggle). There are guys under tents selling ‘cocktails in a coco’ (all you can drink) for $ 15 – 20 a person. Soak up the sun, sand, water, and drinks :) Anyhow, for what we paid, we were very happy with our relaxing and fun-​filled 3-​night cruise!

This past weekend I mistakenly sailed away to the Bahamas on the Carnival Ecstasy. A ship that quite simply put me to sleep. Literally.
Now I don’t like to huff and puff over the little things, and I try to find the positives in the negatives. However, there’s only so many times I can ignore the elephant in the room. And in this case the elephant is the Carnival Ecstasy, and the room is really-​really-​really outdated.
Let me begin by saying this was a very reasonably priced cruise — initially. Myself and a couple friends booked a cabin together where we shared a single electrical outlet and humorously jumped over each other to get out of our beds. These details I don’t mind. For the price we all expected a small room.
However, the humor of it stops about 15 minutes later when you finish touring this cruise. Because in all honesty it took us about that amount of time to see the entirety of the boat (including the additional time to take the stairs, since you’d be incredibly lucky to catch an elevator not being used — but whatever, fitness, healthy lifestyle, yadda yadda).
After taking in the dated furnishings, curtains and décor (the vampire drapes in the casino is a must-​see friends), we were increbily excited to try the first bar. Prices are expected ($ 7+ beers and ciders, $ 9+ cocktails), however it threw me off when I was given my receipt and noticed they included the gratuity, along with another area where you could add an additional tip. I’m sorry, but A. This isn’t a restaurant where I have 5+ people and need extra service, and B. The percentage was way more then a ‘normal’ bar tip. The kicker is if you order one of their menu cocktails, expect to order 2 more on top of that just to get a buzz. I learned early on to stick to cider so at least I can guarantee some legitimate in take of booze.
Then comes the dreaded meal time. Cold food, funky scrambled eggs, horrible water (I definitely should have brought water on this cruise, but alas you can’t — you CAN purchase a 12-​pack of water for a ‘reduced’ price, or you can suffer and drink the sketchy water). We tried pretty much all the food options offered, and none of us we’re honestly impressed… Although the melting cake in the ‘fancy’ dining hall was actually pretty amazing (although it’s not the smartest to eat cake for 3 days straight…).
Going over our entertainment options, we attended most of the shows, stand up performances, hairy chest contest (which ironically only had 2 hairy men out of 6 — technicalities…). To sum it up, the entertainment was fun while it was actually happening… The problem wasn’t the entertainment itself, it was the in-​between time. Since most events lasted less then 30 minutes (including the shows), we found ourselves constantly waiting for the next thing to do. Your options during the in-​between were to go eat more cold food, hang out in cold ‘hot’-tub (you heard right, in the adult only area we all enjoyed sitting in a bubbling hot tub that wasn’t hot, but apparently that’s as warm as it got says the staff…), or hang out in the only pool on the ship, which for obvious reasons was always filled with kids and families.
The Bahamas itself was a joke. We initially purchased a chocolate tour excursion the day before, but the tour was unfortunately cancelled due to low sign-​ups. So trying to keep our heads up, we toured the city ourselves. I wouldn’t recommend it, especially for the ladies reading this. Constant harassment from locals, sketchy cabbies in sketchy vans, and did I forget to mention, everything is closed on Sundays? After shuffling around, trying to create some kind of happy memories, we boarded back on the boat in record time.
The staff seemed tired and overworked, definitely not outgoing or friendly (EXCEPT the entertainment staff, they were the only reason this review is getting an additional star, they were amazing and did a great job!).
If you’re considering a cruise, pay the extra money, find a nicer-​updated cruise line, purchase an excursion or 2, make sure you pay attention to the things you’re signing, and finally — get ready to say «thank you, but no» a thousand times.

Carnival Ecstacy was my first cruise, to the Bahamas from Port Miami. Bring from a small town in Indiana, of course I was blown away by everything I saw and I am so inclined to give 5 stars. Boarding took awhile, of course… but after that, smooth sailing from there. Food was amazing, shows we’re unforgettable, crew was sooo friendly and remembered our names (nice touch). State room was bigger than I’d expected. We got one with a window, but no balcony. Our ship was one of the oldest of Carnival, but I didn’t think that took away from anything, other than the fact that our our pool was really small. We purchased the Cheers package, which I Def recommend if you plan to drink AT ALL. the drinks are expensive, and if you get the package you just pay a one time fee and you don’t have to worry what your drinks cost.
This trip was well worth the cost. We are taking another cruise next year and will be using carnival.

This cruise was planned thru S.E.T. NETWORK promotion team, it was an «Urban Fantasy Cruise». I surprised my hubby with the trip for our Anniversary. He’s never cruised before, but I have 9 yrs ago with Carnival. Things were drastically different on this cruise opposed to my last. This cruise was 3 nights, 4 days & sailing to the Bahamas. We boarded easily with no issues. We got to our room & our bags weren’t there yet, so we went to find friends that were aboard the ship & eat lunch. Get bk to our room bags are there except 1. (Which contained a $ 60 bottle of Dusse) So when the bag arrives hours later minus our Dusse it has a note saying it was confiscated & gonna be returned the day we get back to Miami. Irritating as hell, but ok WHATEVER.
Food-​Was just 3 stars. It was nothing to write home about it was like a old country buffet honestly. I had breakfast-​bacon, pancakes, waffles, sausage. Lunch-​I don’t even remember. Dinner-​HORRIBLE. The 1^st night I skipped their formal dinner & ate pizza late night. The 2^nd night I ate at the formal dinner assuming we were having steak & lobster. Only 2 arrive and learn that we were NOT! The menu changed days before our arrival. THIS WAS BAD!!! PEOPLE WERE PISSED. The service in the dining room was horrible. Our server was Ricardo and he served up MAJOR ATTITUDE. Orders were incorrect & incomplete. We complained to his boss and were comped for drinks.
The staff on the ship need their attitudes adjusted. Bartenders were rude and not helpful. Some of them didn’t speak English well.
We never got to get close 2 the pool or jacuzzi because it was always swarming with kids or people. This kinda irked me, because even late night when you should have been able to have adult time the shit was shut down!
The night clubs were decent onboard. Good drinks in 1 night club where SET NETWORK held their events. I won at the casino, but not happy with the casino hours! It should’ve been open 24hrs.
Things are pretty expensive on cruises. This cruise was no different. I think I’m going to try a different cruise line next time I decide to sail.

This was my fourth cruise with Carnival. This was an older ship but still beautiful. We had excellent service from our room steward and our server in the dining room. This was the first cruise for many of my clients and they are already to book again. Carnival left an outstanding impression on them.

Had a great time on the ship. This is our 4^th cruise with Carnival and we have enjoyed it every time. Obviously customer service is 100% all the time while on the ship. You always find that the people working there go above and beyond to make your stay extra happy. The ship is clean and full of people with lots of things to do. They have great comedy shows with pretty funny people. We always enjoy the Bahamas its a great vacation spot super tropical and beautiful beaches.

First time cruiser? This listed review might help you out!
Before you go…
–Yes, you need a passport.
When you arrive…
–Parking at the Port of Miami was a breeze. We were able to find a spot directly across from the ship. For $ 20 a day, it was worth it to just get out of and back into the car after you arrive home. From where I live it would have been about the same to rent a cab so it worked for us.
The ship itself…
–Made in the early 1990s, and you can see it from the neon style lights in the atrium. The ship still looks pretty damn good for being a bit older than most.
–Our cabin was an interior one around the U180’s. (Deck 6, toward the back.) We felt a bit of rocking but not much. We did feel the engine vibrate and the ship rock when pulling into and out of port.
–Lots of things to do! Comedy show was hilarious and the Motown show was cute! If you miss certain events, they will rebroadcast them on the TV later. This is good to watch when you’re hiding from the sun in your room for a bit!
–Casino and the dealers were fun as well!
The food…
–Overall I give it 3 stars. Some stuff was amazing and some stuff was more like cafeteria food.
–The lido deck buffet was definitely more cafeteria style. My friend and I always found something we liked but nothing was «wow» there.
–Dining room had better quality food for sure! I would recommend eating there over the buffet. You can actually order multiple plates if you still want buffet gluttony AND better quality food.
–GET THE WARM CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE. Just do it. It is amazing.
The drinks…
–Light, tropical drinks are available wherever you turn!
–Average price is $ 8-​$ 10 per drink which is expensive for some, but us locals are used to getting price gouged for alcohol! A little piece of home sweet home. :-)
The staff…
–I’ve never seen a group of workers bust their butts so hard in my life. I did not see 1 worker ever standing around doing nothing. Great group of people.
–Friendly and helpful!
–Tipping is usually included with your cruise, but please bring extra cash for these people. They will impress you.
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas…
–Go down to deck 3 and board the ferry to shore. In less than 10 minutes you’ll be at the island.
–It is absolutely gorgeous.
–Our snorkel excursion got cancelled due to ocean conditions, so we had a peaceful beach day.
Nassau, Bahamas…
–Pretty water
–Tons of shopping
–Great food
–We enjoyed the art museum, the churches and the distillery.
–The straw market is an experience for sure! A lot of the sellers are pushy, so have your game face on and go in there with a plan! I was offered to purchase a crack pipe, but I opted for the t-​shirt instead. Seriously.
Overall, a nice cruise for the price. I would definitely cruise Carnival again, but I think I may want to try another ship this time to see what the newer ones have to offer. This is a great ship though and I would recommend it to anyone.
Happy cruising!

What can I say about the carnival fleet of ship. I just love traveling on the carnival. People’s on the ship are very friendly and fun going. For the price you can’t n et this ship. This will be my 17 cruise. If you having try cruising yet, you must give it a try. I guarantee you will fall in love with cruising.

We weren’t expecting anything special on this cruise as we knew it was an older ship. It was the only cruise that fit the dates that we needed and that we had never been on. My hubby and I have taken many cruises in our almost 8 years as a married couple and this was the 3^rd with the kids (22 & 19)
First off — Embarking and Disembarking was easy breezy and one of the most organized I’ve experienced in all the years cruising. We arrived early as we like to be one of the first on board and hit the buffet before the lines are crazy and explore the ship. We were ushered through security quickly, up the escalator to get our cruise cards and right onto the ship. The process took 10 – 15 minutes! Wowsa! Getting off the ship was also a breeze and we were allowed to leave earlier then anticipated. (We opted to take our own luggage off)
Food — not best but not the worst either. My favorite is their chocolate lava cake which they are known for. Definitely a must try. DO NOT order the pumpkin pie as it is more like pumpkin jello and my husband was sure he could bounce a quarter in it. We opted for the dining room breakfast on all days but the morning we were leaving. The food is made to order and it’s much more relaxed and enjoyable. On our sea day they made it a brunch. Highly recommend the dining room breakfast. For me lunch was eh. I opted for the salad bar.
Excursions — we had such little time in Key West we just walked around and hit all the shops and restaurants we wanted to hit. Our favorite spots were Croissants de France on Duval street (see separate review) and the Pepper Store on Greene street. And don’t leave Key West without a slice of frozen Keylime pie on a stick. You’ll be in heaven.
Cozumel, Mexico — we booked the salsa and salsa excursion. 5 stars for sure! $ 70 a person for the 4 ½ hour excursion which includes taxi to and from the port, 2 margarita recipes (and very generous and free flowing) then 5 salsa recipes and 1 guacamole recipe. Lots chips for the dips, a quesadilla to share with your partner and the same for the toquitoes. After that part is when the salsa dancing lesson commences but we opted to skip it for extra pool time. The pool was quite large and my son and I got in on a water volleyball game which was lots of fun.
Onboard Entertainment — there were lots of activities to do on the ship but we never got to do all of them. We planned on going to a comedy show but usually ended up in the casino instead. My hubby was thrilled that there was a Texas Hold em game and I played roulette and craps and walked away ahead on both. I also played the lowest bingo amount ($ 20) for 3 out of 4 sessions and won $ 198 during one of the games on the last day. So I am quite thrilled!
Trivia games were fun and we had a fun night at the piano bar on the first night singing along. We also spent time by the pool either taking a dip or reading.
Cabins — my hubby and I had a balcony room. It had plenty of storage space and I enjoyed sitting on the balcony and it’s great for drying wet bathing suits. The kids were across the hall in an inside cabin. They arranged the beds along each wall to optimize their space. Our steward provided what we needed and the room was cleaned in the AM with turndown at night. They ask you you’re preferences at the beginning of the cruise.
All in all a nice 4 day cruise and excellent price.

I was expecting not stellar but maybe mid level service considering its an old ship. I have to admit I was wrong to the max.
The staff aboard this ship is by far the best service I’ve experienced. I was able to touch almost every area of service from customer service to room service to bar and dining. The customer service representatives were the nicest I’ve ever dealt with. Each one of them regardless of the long lines made you feel special and took their time making sure your needs were met.
When they did get something wrong. They made sure to correct it by offering complimentary coffee vouchers on them.
The dinner food options were superb and they allow you to ask for multiple orders at once. If you’re a big drinker, I would suggest to buy the «cheers program,» it’s $ 50 per day per person. The restrictions that apply include for example, if there’s two people staying in the stateroom each person must purchase the program. There were two people in my stateroom therefore the total was $ 344 and change for both.
Originally, If you start purchasing drinks prior to buying the program and then decide to buy the program then the drinks purchased prior to the program will be factored in. The program allows for a 15 drink max per day, per person. It’s worth it so buy it. The average drink costs $ 10.
Cheers! Have fun!

Went out of Galveston, Tx on a 5 day cruise down to Cozumel…
This was my first carnival cruise experience.
The ship needs some revamping. It was clean. The staff was fun…
Compared to the bigger ships this one was just ok.
Had to open doors with all the wind coming through…
Room was good.
Won a «ship on a stick» you get these when you win a game.
It was a cheap cruise to getaway.
Would not recommend this older, small ship.
But if your a first time cruiser this might be the ship for you as its not so confusing and smaller crowd.
Food was great.

Ecstasy was my 5^th Carnival cruise and the 1^st time I used the Faster to the Fun pass. It was $ 49.95 for everybody in your party and I thought it was totally worth it!!! You get to check in VIP style starting from the airport to the port. We got to stay in a separate room where they offered ice cold water. Priority embarkation and debarkation, along with getting in line to get off to ports. This was a 4 day cruise with only 2 destinations, Key West and Cozumel. The ship is smaller but since I always take Dramamine throughout the cruise, I don’t feel the motion in the ocean. Personally, I’ve never encountered any problems on any of the Carnival cruise lines. Since the ship is not registered in the US, they hire people from around the world. The staff work extremely hard and I’ve talked to some of them. The interior of this ship is clean but I think it should be updated. While on board, you are not allowed to use cash (unless it’s gratuity) or you may not use a credit card. They give you a card that you use throughout your entire trip, for everything. You either pay cash or just charge it on your credit card at the end.
The food: Buffet food is ok. You get your money’s worth when you eat in the dining room. They have different items and it’s delicious!!! Tip for the 1^st time cruisers… Get as many dishes as you want. It’s all Free!!! There was a couple sitting near our table and the lady kept looking at me because I was order multiple dishes all at once. Who cares? You’re never gonna see them again!!! Lol
Entertainment: Excellent Broadway style entertainers nightly. Game shows are fun to watch
Ports: Not enough time in Key West and not much to do on the small island.
Cozumel was fun but again, not enough time as one tour clashed with the
other tour times.
I can go on and on about when it comes to cruises. Overall, I enjoyed cruising on the Ecstasy.