Not bad for a 1st cruise

Carnival Ecstasy Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 6

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Ecstasy

4 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 23, 2015

Ship: Carnival Ecstasy

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: U137

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

I chose to go during the week of Thanksgiving so the ship had over 700 children under the age of 12 (not good planning on my part).  They had 2 adult hot tubs secluded at the back of the ship but no adult pool.  I didn't find the adult hot tubs until the 2nd or 3rd day.  A little guidance would have been nice for 1st timers. The 1st day on the ship I had to ask for an itinerary of what was happening on the ship. It would have been nice to have it in my room or handed to me when boarding the ship. Some of the entertainment was cheesy and some of it was good, but you get what you pay for.  I found myself bored at times and heard others saying the same thing. I suspect they want you to be bored at times so you spend money in their shops and in their casino.  Food was alright but nothing to write home about.  A little more organization from the entertainment crew might help make the cruise more pleasurable.  I'm not sold on a 2nd cruise yet, but may try another to see if it's better.  At this point I prefer all inclusive resorts over going on a cruise.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
food was comparable to Big Boy

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
bored at times

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
hardworking and they put up with a lot from the families and they still managed to smile most of the time

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was a nice size and I'm claustrophobic, the window helped. Cabin was clean and well cared for.

Ship tip

Don't travel the week of Thanksgiving if you are going on a romantic cruise or don't want to be around children. This is probably more of a family ship than a ship for adults to enjoy.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5
See Hemingway's home and enjoy exploring the area. I found a nice little bar down by the beach.

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5
I've been to Mexico several times, so it's the same thing you see in all the tourist areas
Was this review helpful? 6

4 Comments

earthseed    8 years ago

I LOVE the Fun Times!

Donnaday1    8 years ago

We also explore on our 1st day. We also mark the things we plan to do the next day. We may not always stick to what we plan but we live by our fun times planner.

Jeannine3915052    8 years ago

We always start off our cruises by picking up a Fun Times & deck map and then begin exploring the ship, discovering everything available onboard. Then we highlight all of the things we want to do & places to go onboard. I take a pen & highlighter on the cruise so I can mark each day's Fun Times events we don't want to miss. The events do not come to you. Longer cruises have bigger & better.

terry115    8 years ago

private yacht

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