Question:

Cruise Review:  Carnival Ecstasy 11/23/01 3 night Ensenada Introduction This was our 8th cruise together. We decided to go on this particular cruise just a few weeks ago.  We wanted to do something for Thanksgiving, and decided that a cruise the day after would be a good way to enjoy the weekend. We also took my wife’s parents with us for this cruise.  This was our third time sailing with Carnival, and our fourth cruise in 2001.  This was our first experience on a Fantasy Class ship, as our previous Carnival cruises were both on the Destiny.  I will say up front that we had an enjoyable cruise on the Ecstasy. Pre Cruise We live in San Diego, and had never actually taken a cruise from the West Coast, so we actually enjoyed not flying in a day ahead.  We drove to the pier, and parking was abundant.  The charge was $10 a day, payable immediately. Embarkation Check-in was very easy.  We got to the pier at a little after Noon. My mother-in-law uses a wheelchair, and a Carnival rep. escorted us to special assistance check-in.  After giving us our sail and sign cards, we took the elevator up to the boarding level where another Carnival rep. got us our room keys.  One more stop to get our photo taken for the sail and sign card, and we were on board.  Our one bag we left with the porters made it to our cabin fairly quickly.  (We actually planned on carrying it on board our selves, but it was too big for carry on size x-ray machine). Our Cabin We had cabin M-106, a Category 6B outside cabin, right in the middle of the ship.  The cabin itself was very functional, and there was plenty of storage space.  We are now totally spoiled, and prefer a balcony cabin, but for a three-day cruise we didn’t think that it was worth the money to go for Category 11 or 12. We met our Cabin Stewardess, Erika from Romania right after the lifeboat drill.  She put both beds together for us, and did a good job keeping the cabin tidy.  We did get one towel animal on the second night of the cruise. At the Captain’s cocktail party on the second night, Erika was also one of the servers, and when she saw us sit down, she ran over immediately to offer us appetizers.  I thought she did a very good job overall. The Ship For a 10 year-old ship, the Ecstasy was in pretty good shape.  We did not notice any strange smells, the elevators worked for the most part, and the carpets showed only mild wear and tear.  If you like neon and flashy colors, the Ecstasy is your ship.  The ship’s layout is very easy to navigate.  The bottom three passenger decks have staterooms only.  The Empress deck has staterooms as well as the photo gallery and the Purser’s desk. Continuing our way upward, the Atlantic deck has the kids play room, both dining rooms, (named Wind Song and Wind Star) as well as the library, card room, shopping area and lower level of the main show lounge, called the Blue Sapphire lounge.  The next deck up is the Promenade deck.  Here you will find the upper level of the Blue Sapphire lounge, the casino, the Metropolis Bar, the Chinatown club, the Rolls Royce Caf