Carnival Cruise Lines - Ecstasy Review

Carnival Ecstasy 11/19/99-11/22/99 Miami-Nassau Cruise

Our flight on Continental 795 was on time, the gal with the Carnival
sign told us where to obtain our luggage in Miami. Then we went to the
bus to be taken to the dock. At the dock we had to climb thru piles
of luggage & dig thru to find ours, then drag them into BLDG 8 to get
aboard. No porters anywhere to assist with luggage to the boat. So we
have to pass thru the X-Ray machines that do not accomodate luggage, just carry-ons & purses, so they have us OPEN THEM UP to take everything out on the dirty carpet to discover nothing, then we have to repack! Then we had a 3 hour wait in the world's slowest moving line do to folks filling out all their paperwork. Then it is our turn, we give them all what they needed, but now we have to fillout a card that acts as cash aboard, yet this form was not in our mailing from Carnival. Then we drag our luggage to our cabin V40. There are 2 twin beds not the KING BED CABIN as on our reservation. Then we see we have EARLY SEATING for dinner not the late seating we reserved. So we are off the the Purser's Information area & another line. But we are blasted to get back to the cabin for safety drill, getting our lifejackets on & to the pool area.

That was stupid to say the least as no one had any idea what was being said, too many folks trying not to get wet in the rain & over an hour of standing up against the windows & not able to hear anything from a megaphone. Then back in line at the Purse's area. Then
I am left with the most unsatisfactory answers to our problems. As far
as early instead of late seating, she states "That is a request, not
a reservation". I told her I called Carnival to confirm it the day before
the cruise. She sounded pre-recorded by using the same answer again. But she added for us to goto the Skylight Lounge to meet with the Matre D for a change. We go there & another line to wait in. Then he states
that we can show up at 8:15 to see if we got a table for the remaining
nights. Tired, aggravated & hungry we return to the room. A twin bed
and a 6'3" large man do not mix.

We state to each other that no hotel in Las Vegas or Hawaii would treat
a guest like this. So we call #54 for the Steward & a female on a recording states "Please hang up & wait for him to show". So we do for 40 minutes at 5PM and no steward. So we left to get air & find the buffet on Lido deck. There the pizzaria was understaffed & low on food. 5 min wait for a slice of pizza. This happened daily!!! Back for V40 we got to change for dinner & still twin beds at 7PM. So again we dial #54 & the same recording. So we dress & phone the Pursers Office to locate our Steward and get us a King Bed as reserved. As we leave for dinner he shows up, pushes the beds together with the sheets & blackets folded under the mattress making for a G-rated wall between 2 adults married for 20 years that now cannot be together tonite........ So get the 8:15 dinner at table 164. Then to bed in cramped style.

We have smelled smoke and seen the black back to the ship with areas roped off.  We learned from a cruiser that last week the laundry room & rooms by it went up in flames & they didn't cancel our cruise to repair
the ship.

Saturday we were at Atlantis on Paradise Island as planned & what a
great time there. 1/2 of Paradise Island utter splendor. Aquariums
all over even tunnels thru them with the marine life all around you as
you walk thru. The 60' waterslide from the Mayan Temple affectionately
called LEAP OF FAITH was a breathtaking experience (2 seconds of
freefall into the pool but first you slide thru SHARKS!). Then you do
the innertubes with handles that careen you thru rushing water with
turns & spins going up & down (quite dizzy) ending in a slow cruise
thru the shark tank again. Then you are flushed into the pool & you
cannot stand up straight for a bit. Men assist you to a lounger to get your wits back. Steel drum music all around too! The casino was quite giving & very beautiful in a circular layout with wide aisles. Mosiacs of artwork were awesome way up there in various big rooms all over the 5 hour walk. The pools resemble beaches with white edges that you walk into not step down stairs. The rooms are nicely appointed in a clean, very comfortable tropical theme. Great views the feature in them. Only disappointment was the buffet (comped) which was poor. Sushi was featured (yuk) but good chicken gumbo. Even the deserts were plain & dry, but a special drink called "yuma yuma" which won the bartender-of-the-year contest for Autho & $1000 was a hit!. 9 hours of their life there, had us in fantasy land.

Then back to Ecstacy for the dressy dinner at 8:15pm. Funny that many
folks were not dressed more than the casual dining on Friday night, a
table of men in bowling shirts! Dinner was terrible for a special
occassion. All the men had the NY Strip steak that needed a chainsaw
to cut it. The escargo was minced before being served, not a shell as
normal. The crabmeat cocktail tasted OLD! The lobster tail was so
chewy & hard to seperate from the shell. Then the head waiter & 4
waiters bring a cake for us & another couple at the table to share for
our anniversaries. Their singing was the cutest as they were all
foreign & the accents added to the enjoyment. Then we went to sit in
a window at the Rolls Royce bar & watch the waves starting to build.
Then over to the casino where we met the best part of the cruise.
John, who we guess was a Casino Mgr, who was charmed by my green velvet dress & diamond choker with long blonde hair. I got 4 quarters stuck in the DWVP, but not knowing it played the hand even doubling down for 40 coins, but paid 4 on a 1 coin bet. He opened the machine, found the problem, got the computer to confirm my hand & paid me the remaining 36 coins. Even returned later with a "I CAME, I WON" T-Shirt. He made sure we have anything & everything we needed, including a FREE Rum Swizzler night. We had a great late evening with John & the staff of the casino but were quite tired from a full day so to bed we went.
WOW! We find a bottle of champagne with a computer printed HAPPY
ANNIVERSARY card from the Purser. But he forgot the ice bucket &
glasses, so we phoned room service the next morning so we'd have it all day to enjoy. We awoke to quite a bunch of swells that rocked the ship & many were ill, many on crutches from falling, so we were aiding many of our fellow cruisers feeling quite bad for them. The pool aboard
ship was a major disappointment as we were ready for a day in the sun,
but no lawnchairs on any floor. THEY WERE ALL TAKEN! Carnival lost count of how many cruisers thinking all do not like the sun. We got to
sit on the floor on Sun Deck at 1PM after 3 hours of walking all levels
for a chair. Broken glass from the rocking of the ship from drinks
was quite dangerous & no waiters were seen to clean it up, so back to
the room to change for lunch. There we see all the tanned folks in
the suits & we look at each other & state how tired we are & how we
should would like an adult bed to relax in. So back to the room &
there the phone rings & it was Denise from the Pursers office asking
if our King size bed was fine & I asked her "What king bed?". She
freaked when she learned of the 2 twins pushed together bedding in
between & promised our last night would be a king size bed. Then she
overhears my yelling husband stating the toilet won't flush & "is this
the Tropicale????" She sends a plumber up who is met by others on the deck with overflowing toilets & it is in the system on Verandah deck
he tells us & he'd have it fixed. So we dress for dinner, I used the
toilet before we left & pushed the flush button & nothing, pushed again
still nothing, then 3 minutes later it flushes.

Dinner the final night was Chaeaubreon (green beans & pot roast was it) & fruit plate with one strawberry, one rasberry & one slice of melon.
Then the waiters come out doing at Macarena then serve the Baked Alaska without dimming the lights to show the flame. That was the only good food of the 3 night cruise - the desert! The rest of meals were worse than Circus Circus Buffet in Las Vegas. Breakfast in the dining room seemed worse than the Lido deck cafeteria. Cold, crewy pancakes. Omelette that was so small & unfilled. Cold toast! Coffee served black, never asked if cream was needed, etc. Then the KING BED! It did show up, well it still was 2 twin beds pushed together. The 2 twin beds were finally locked together, but the sheets & blankets were
the same as on the bed already, just turned sideways to fit the wide
bed. So when we got into bed, the meeting of the sheets were under
our butts & my husband from kneens down & me from calves down had NO BLANKET! This had to be a joke!!!

Then it was over, we leave on a HOT BUS! NO A/C! Many on the bus
were stating how they would never cruise Carnival again. We agreed!
We would cruise on another line, but not CARNIVAL!!!!! It was the
worst vacation we ever had. Many stated that HOLLAND AMERICA is a
high class operation vs the joke of the FUN SHIPS that are not FUN!
Future cruises are either HAL, COSTA, RCCL, Celebrity even a better quality of Carnival. NO MORE ECSTACY!!!!!