Ecstatic about our cruise

Item: Carnival Ecstasy
Rating: 4.8
Author: cathyrose

Carnival Ecstasy Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

cathyrose

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 42

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5

5 Night Bahamas (Charleston Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 14, 2017

Ship: Carnival Ecstasy

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: R202

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

LOVE LOVE LOVE! Best vacay ever! Best value for our money ever too! The staff were friendly, and we had a comfortable and good time. The food was the best I've ever eaten, and there was a liberal supply of it...all included in our cruise price! Can't beat the value!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Good experience, easier than expected!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Best value in food for the money for any vacation! We got to eat amazing foods with fine dining in the dining room, and hit the buffet with equally good food when we wanted!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Fun stuff going on all of the time! We played mini-golf, shopped, played in the water park. We noticed there was shuffleboard and table tennis too, and would have played those if we'd noticed them sooner!

Entertainment

5 out of 5

The shows were some of the best I've seen! We saw musical shows, Motown, and the Brits, as well as Hasbro the Game Show.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Absolutely wonderful staff! You can tell that they really love their jobs!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The only problem was with the elevators, which were slow at times, but in general very well maintained!

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

We slept 3, but the the room was pretty nice, although it got crowded having the pullman bed in the down position all week. Wish we could have put it up during the day, and brought it down only when needed/at night. The bathroom was small, but quite efficient.

Ship tip

The renovated cabins do not have metal walls, but only metal ceilings, so if you listen to common advice about buying magnetic hooks to hang your bathing suits, etc., on, you will have few places to use them, FYI. We did use the ceiling though, and hung our wet towels, bathing suits, etc., from them up close to the wall. It worked. :)

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Charleston, South Carolina

5 out of 5

Nice place. We did not do any excursions, but passed through on our way to embarkation. Next time we will plan to stay and look around a bit!

Thumbs Up 1

Nassau, Bahamas

4 out of 5

I found it crowded with a lot of pesky locals asking if we needed a taxi. But we had a nice time, a self-guided experience. Junkanoo Beach was gorgeous, and we found a quiet stretch with almost no one on it to park ourselves, and enjoy the tranquil waters! The Pirate Museum was a bit disappointing to my sons. It was nice, though, and quite interesting, but perhaps not exciting enough to make it worth $13 entrance. The Straw Market was an "experience" in negotiating prices. Most vendors sold the exact same stuff as each other, so a few minutes was all I needed.

Thumbs Up 5

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

5 out of 5

People say there's nothing here, but I found the little colorful shop huts right at the port to be delightful, and we enjoyed looking around and buying things. It was a charming little area, with lots of shopping for souvenirs. No one was pestering us for taxis or excursions there too!

Thumbs Up 15

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

It was quick and easy!

Traveler Photos

8 Comments

MeganClavier 4 years ago

Yes!

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phoenixraquel 7 years ago

Agreed

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mare2657 7 years ago

same. ..but - cappy service send me over the edge

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phoenixraquel 7 years ago

Thanks! I can't wait! ..... yes, good food can turn a good time into a great time. Lol. Me & my husband are foodies, so if they have good food it only makes everything better. 🙂🙃

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mare2657 7 years ago

I will do that. We've found that each cruise is what we make it. After 18 cruise - 16 on Carnival - we've learned that, for the most part, it is what we make it. However, service, food, etc. can definitely male or break the experience. I'll report here 🤗 Have a great day

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phoenixraquel 7 years ago

@mare2657 I hope you will do a review when you get back. 🙏 We are doing a 12 night journey cruise on the Ecstasy next November, and the negative reviews has made me a little nervous. A lot of people said it's good for 4 to 5 day cruises, but nothing longer. Still trying to figure out if we should cancel or keep it. I hope to hear from others who have experienced journey cruises on the Ecstasy.

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mare2657 7 years ago

Thank you for posting this! so many have taken to negative reviews. We will be on the Ecstasy for the Nov 5th 10-days cruise.

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TKBMECH 7 years ago

We took that cruise for New Years and it was a blast 👍

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Other reviews of this sailing

First cruise

Relaxing Vacation

It was ok. Smelt like sewage at times.