Hey all of you cruise lovers
. Wife and I just got back from 5 night on Ecstacy out of Galveston and wanted to share our experience. We just turned 50 and this was our first cruise. If you have any questions after reading this, just fire away.
PARKING - we used EZCruiseParking (go to ezcruiseparking.com for reservations) and I recommend them to anyone. $35 for 5 night and highly protected - just make a reservation ahead of time to guarantee a spot. Friendly staff and free shuttle to and from - just give a small tip.
EMBARKATION - we arrived around 1:00 pm and were on board by 1:45 pm. We barely got to our room and they were bringing our luggage! That was great! This process went very smoothly for us and there were TONS of people embarking at the same time. Very smooth operation.
FOOD - everything was great except for the Mexican Food Buffet at 11:30 pm one night. I heard from several people that they thought it was bad, probably because it had been prepared too early and was sitting out. Other than that, all or our meals were great. We are in the Formal Dining for all Dinners and relly had great service from our waiters. Our table mates were nice people and we hit it off good from the first meal. Get the steak with 3 peppercorn sauce. Mmmmm. Good! We tried sit down breakfast every day and really, really enjoyed that. You can order what and how much of anything. We ate sit down lunch and Lido deck buffet for lunch. Try the fresh made-to-order sandwiches at the Deli. Pizza was good.
ENTERTAINMENT - wow! What can I say. All of the shows were excellent! We really enjoyed the full show on the second night with all of the dancers and costumes. They probably changed 7 or 8 times! Excellent shows.Excellent show band. And, you just have to go to the Karoke at least one night. I am no professional singer, but I can tell you that some of those people were....just go see for yourself!
ROOM - our room was excellent on Upper deck inside. We never missed a window as were did not sit still long enough to need one. My wife enjoyed the darkness so she could take that afternoon nap! Take a nightlight so you can see to go to the bathroom! Our bed was soooo comfortable and those brand new down filled comforters and new pillows. Our room steward kept our room so clean and was always bringing fresh towels and a bucket of ice!
GENERAL SHIP CONDITION - overall the ship is in very good shape to me. I think that they have done an excellent job cleaning 24 hrs/day and keeping her fresh. We really didn't see any torn carpet or anything. Loved all those neon lights and bright carpet and wall coverings in the lobby areas. Was neat to us. We enjoyed the classical music in the lobby and the China Town Bar was a great (non-smokey) area to listen to the band, dance if you want and relax and have a good time. Pool area was a favorite area and lots of people, but we always found chairs and a table. Not a problem with chair hogs, as I have read.
PORTS - we didn't get to go to Progreso as planned because of extremely high winds. The Mexican port authority closed the port for our safety and the safety of the ship and dock. Oh well, we didn't let that bother us. Cozumel was fun. Went to Paradise Beach (American owned) and had a great time swimming and relaxing under the shade of the umbrella. Food was great there as well. Try the grilled Mahi-Mahi sandwich! Bought some t-shirts for $4 on the way back to ship. We passed them up when we forst got off because they were selling for $12...we got a bargain! Oh, take a taxi ride for a trip of your life!
DEBARKATION - went very smoothly for us. We ate a leisurely breakfast and took our time packing. The self-debark people were crowding the hallways, stairs and elevators, so we had to go around them. We were not in any hurry, so just took our time and waited for our color to be called. We left our room around 8:45 am and we were in our car at 10:00 am. Not bad! Nobody was pushing or shoving or complaining a bit.
OVERALL RATING - A+ we will go Carnival again and and hope to be on Ecstacy again. Loved it!
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