10 Night Eastern Caribbean Carnival Journeys (Charleston Roundtrip)
Sail date: November 05, 2017
Ship:
Carnival Ecstasy
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: M254
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
I realize that Mother Nature had a hand in changing our original itinerary, however, the alternate ports, with the exception of Bonaire, were disappointing choices by Carnival. We went from 5 ports (St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Tortola, San Juan, & Amber Cove) in our original itinerary to actually visiting only 3 ports on a 10 day cruise!!! Why wasn't Curacao chosen as well as Aruba & Bonaire, or even San Juan or Amber Cove from our original itinerary? They were open! There was an 8 day cruise out of Miami that included all ABC islands during the itinerary changes. Other itinerary changes included St. Kitts & Antigua. Barbados could have been another option. This was a 10 day Journeys cruise described on the website as, "Board a Carnival Journeys cruise and you’re on course for enriching experiences aboard, amazing destinations ashore, classic cruising flair and more." The destinations of Princess Cays and Grand Turk were extremely poor choices as these are ports that you can regularly get to out of Charleston on any old weekend, so they certainly weren't "...amazing destinations." I could have flown directly to Bonaire and spent an amazing vacation with my family there rather than be on this cruise and spend SIX full rainy days at sea and I would likely have spent a lot less money! The whole point of cruising is to visit several destinations while only unpacking once. We visited 3 ports, and spent SIX days at sea. Overall, Carnival really let me & my family down on this cruise. It is very unlikely that myself or my extended family will ever choose to cruise again.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Getting into the port & parking was easy. Personnel were friendly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Vegetarian meals were great. Unusual food selections (frog legs, tongue, etc.) were appreciated. Our wait staff, Mohammad, Alexandria, & Merel were excellent.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
We were unable to use the waterworks or pools on most sea days due to winds & rain. This was especially disappointing for us with a 4 year old, and as we ended up spending 6 full days at sea. I felt like Carnival trapped us on the ship with their fewer replacement port choices for their own financial benefit.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Gary the director was great. He had a very pleasant accent, and was not cheesy. Cheesy is very grating, and Gary was pleasant.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
My daughter chose not to attend the kid's club. We just didn't feel comfortable leaving her with strangers. The Seussapollooza show was fun for my daughter as was the Green Eggs & Ham breakfast. The towel theater was something that we wanted to attend, however, it was scheduled for immediately after the Green Eggs & Ham breakfast on the other end of the ship, so we couldn't feasibly attend it. It would have been a great diversion if it had been scheduled more appropriately. Razul the magician was a highlight of our trip. He visited our table and dinner several times, and helped our daughter stay entertained throughout the meal.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Laxmi was an excellent room steward. Mohammad, Alexandra, & Merel were excellent wait staff. Gedde was also great.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
The issues with the elevators were unacceptable. We ended up taking the stairs at all times, but one person in our party was not able to take the stairs and actually had to visit the ship's physician for the inflammation caused by trying to take the stairs because there were no other options at the back of the ship where our rooms & the dining room were located. Quite frankly, Carnival should be held responsible for his medical issues.
Why do cruise ships have to be so gaudy? Is it really necessary to have print upon print, neon, mirrors, and tackiness? Please choose more elegant & subtle décor in future.
The casino was so smoky at all times and almost the entire Promenade deck was affected by it. We avoided the whole deck as much as possible, but the candy store was there, so we had to brave it for our daughter.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Laxmi kept our cabin immaculate, and he was very personable. We very much appreciated him. The room was serviceable, and the balcony was great. The Pullman worked well for our daughter. It was like her own little space to hang out.
We live in Charleston, so the convenience was appreciated. However, after the disappointments of this itinerary, I'm not sure that I support cruise ships in Charleston anymore. It seems Carnival is only concerned about squeezing as much money as possible out of their customers with this cruise. Choosing only 4 ports to replace 5 ports, and keeping us at sea for 6 days without proper elevators was completely unacceptable. Carnival's business practices are a poor reflection on our beautiful city.
I did not appreciate the line of tour salesman as we exited the port. I felt overwhelmed and uncomfortable with their verbal crowding of us & our daughter as we left the port area. The area near the port was extremely touristy, rundown, and very much a letdown. We rented a car and had to walk several blocks to check in, then be shuttled to another area to pick up our car. Why are there no car rental agencies available in the port terminal as there were signs indicating that there had been at one time? In hindsight, we might have enjoyed the Natural Bridge, Butterflies, & Beach excursion on this trip and avoided the hassle of the car rental process.
This port was amazing! We took the water taxi to Klein Bonaire to snorkel. Walking around the city after snorkeling was great. The tour vendors in their line of tents was well organized, and our travel companions made use of them. I wish Aruba had been set up more like these tents.
We were not able to dock due to high winds. This was extremely disappointing as this was the only port we had scheduled an excursion. There seemed to be a problem with our excursion (Rays, Conch, & Snorkel) on the website, so I called Carnival twice to confirm that everything was OK. Both times, I was told everything was fine. We then received a note under our door that our excursion was no longer available. I was extremely annoyed by this as I had tried to avoid any issues prior to sailing. I felt that Carnival essentially lied to me twice when I contacted them before sailing. The shore excursions desk did make an exception to get our 4 year old daughter onto another similar excursion that was limited to >5 years, but since we didn't get to go to this port, it was just a small win for the panic it caused me in the meantime to have to quickly make other arrangements.
Since we were a smaller ship, this port was not too crowded. We went to the less crowded right side of the area to snorkel and have more space. I enjoyed it more than I expected, but after the disappointment of missing Grand Turk, it was only a small consolation. The privately owned ports seem to me to be just another way for Carnival to make more money off of their guests. There were very few excursions offered at this port.
It was very much cooler in Charleston, and during disembarking, we had to wait outside the terminal for quite some time before collecting our bags. It should have been managed to allow us to remain on the ship until we were able to go directly into the terminal. We then had to wait outside again for the shuttles. With no seating, it was difficult for my 4 year old and our older travel companions to stand for so long.
That sounds awesome! We are actually suppose to be in Aruba to 10pm. I️ wonder if that’s something we could do. ........ We plan our cruises on our anniversary as well. Usually it falls on a sea day, but next year it falls on the amber cove port day which is an additional reason why we booked this cruise because amber cove is our favorite port. So I’m definitely hoping it all works out.
Phoenix Raquel: Yes, the Journeys cruise was not cheap. It was our anniversary, so on Aruba we went to Passions on the Beach for dinner. Cheesy name, but they set up tables on Eagle Beach at sunset. Having dinner & drinks with our toes in the sand was great. There's also another place called Barefoot that is similar and within walking distance from the pier, so enjoy Aruba, and may you have much better luck with your ports than we did!
I get it. Journey cruises are not cheap. We picked the cruise for next year cause it has our favorite ports (San Juan & amber cove) and ports that we haven’t been to but want to see (Aruba & Curaçao). There’s also St Maarten on the list but we can take it or leave it. If there was a complete itinerary change we would be disappointed if there was no satisfying compensation. The amount of money that goes in a journey cruise isn’t cheap so you expect something extra. I’m hoping for the best.
PhoneixRaquel: No compensation for the lack of ports. Just $24pp in port fees for the change from 5 ports to 4 ports after the Hurricanes. When the hurricanes hit, we were past the point of being able to cancel the cruise. When we weren't able to dock in Grand Turk, we received $15pp in port fees.
Castiel: This ship had recently undergone renovations, so I was hoping the loud décor would have been toned down a bit. It's also the only ship leaving from Charleston, so driving to the other ports with nicer ships wouldn't have been cost-effective for us.
Shay1920: Why wouldn't I have been happy with San Juan & Amber Cove? They were on our original itinerary. According to several other experienced passengers, Grand Turk is hit or miss. I understand the safety issue, but If Carnival had chosen the replacement ports more carefully, we wouldn't have been subjected to so many days at sea. As a Journeys cruise, it should have been a priority for Carnival to plan replacement ports. We saved up for this dream cruise for our family. Carnival let us down, and will I no longer trust them.
San Juan and Amber Cove may have been open but something tells me that even had you went there you still would have complained. Cruising isn't for everyone. You have to be flexible and open to port changes while cruising because they can happen. The cruiseline has no control over the weather, but there are certain safety measures that must be taken such as closing water activities in severe weather. Otherwise passengers would blame the cruiseline of they got hurt.
Sounds like you did no research. Most of carnivals ships were designed by Joe Farcas. If you want a less “gaudy” ship, try the Breeze, Vista or Horizon.
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