Ecstasy 5 day September 4-9 out of Galveston Texas.

We book a week before the trip and made arraignments for the kids with Grandparents after ditching a preplanned trip to Vegas and working this out at the last moment. A military rate made it a no brainer allowing me to save a couple of Southwest FF tickets and overall cost was less than the price of 4 days hotel on the Strip.

Bonnie and I are lucky as we only need half an hour or so to get to the port so we left around noon parked at EZ cruise on of the parking vendors for $35.00 and if you don’t have much luggage its an easy walk to the Terminal if you don’t want to take the shuttle.

Embarkation

Galveston is the easiest of any cruise port that I have found and not just Carnival… the same for RCL and Princess for that matter. If you hate the process it’s a good reason to think about Galveston as a departure city. We have Platinum status with Carnival and elected priority boarding and made the process even quicker but inattention by the Embarkation staff not realizing my credit card was not read by the card reader caused me a problem. The first time I tried to buy a drink on the ship I was rejected and had to leave the drinks on the bar and go to the pursers desk to fix the problem…I’m not sure who was more embarrassed me or the cute bartender that was given the job of telling me my sail and sign card was no good. From the parking lot to stateroom was less than half an hour…not having V.I.P. check in might add five minutes as for the credit card profound apologies and activation at the purser’s desk was prompt.

The Ship

What a difference a year makes…Ecstasy by far was the gaudiest Cruise boat bar none in its past life and still has a few trappings of its life prior to a major refit early this year after serving as a Katrina relief Vessel for first responders in New Orleans. Stairwells and Elevator landings still have the Picasso goes Disco theme as I would describe it, and the Lido Deck restaurant is still an aqua blue (although toned down with new floors if I remember the old floors were a checker board black and white). The rest of the ship has seen many updates of carpet and new tile keeping the theme of the ship and bars but making it seem much more modern. It’s a nice change and has been done well. A putt-putt golf course has been added forward inside the jogging track and basketball and volleyball court also aft. Both had high utilization during days at sea. The gym and spa have been updated and some of the best workout equipment I have seen and used at sea.
In dry dock they obviously spent time on the ships running gear, as this was a vibration a free ship as I have ever experience, even the bow and stern thrusters literally were not felt when activated. I’m sort of weird about rotational prolusion systems and probably the only one that noticed.

The Rooms

Once again the rooms seemed to have been totally redone from flat panel televisions to all new fixtures and cabinets including the bathrooms. I can honestly say it all looked new. We had an outside with a window mid ships after being upgraded from an inside cabin. Rather than embarrassing myself and asking for the inside back (I prefer insides if I don’t book a balcony) I just thanked them and moved on…actually it worked out well and sort of changed my mind on the deal. Cabin steward was attentive as could be and my only complaint is the ice bucket is about half the size of the old style and has you looking for ice after a round of drinks.

Food

Hey this is Carnival…Good to Excellent in the dining room, also superior service and decent wine list. Okay to good on the Lido deck buffet and always the availability of pizza and deli sandwiches…may I suggest the Rubin…and Sushi in the Evening to get you to that late seating. If you want the better service and food you need to eat in the dining room if you want mass quantities head to the buffet…. There’s better food on other lines but most will find it better than expected.

Entertainment

The Production Shows are always better than expected and worth the effort. The Comedy shows left a little to be desired but were okay. The cruise director and staff kept the pool games going and poolside band was better than most of the bands on smaller ships doing short trips. The disco was a walk in and walk out …guess I will never get used to hip hop…Of note was the Phillipino Cover Band Lifeline doing 60-70-80 Rock Standards you can dance to…I must admit they hit a soft spot, as throughout my Military Career in some of the most unusual places MWR always had similar Phillipino Cover bands who excelled a reproducing the music like it came off the album… better than many of the original artist could do it outside the studio themselves. Then barely be able to speak English if they tried to hold a conversation. They really were good.

Ports

Progresso was a surprise we had never been there and would go back again! Bonnie and I have spent quit a bit of time in the Yucatan as the husband of a Meso- American Archeologist/Anthropologist its hard not to end up a there on vacations looking at the Mayan trash dumps…Progresso reminds me of Playa del Carmen 20 years ago when it was a similar quaint fishing village….then again maybe more like Akumal further south, decent beach, cheep beer, and not crowded. Unfortunately a little heavy on the beach vendors, but a simple no sent them along the way. We spend the day at Bubbas (Owned by a Dutchman) with $2.00 beers a free plapa and chairs and loungers. Some of the best Cerviche I have had and excellent service. You could get a beer for as cheap as a Buck if you walked across the street. For the non-beach types a 30 min trip into Merida (The Capital) a colonial town with French, Italian, and Spanish architecture and cheap shopping is readily available. The pier is unusual as it is at the end of a 4-5 mile jetty out into the Gulf of Mexico due to the shallow water. Buses are used (Free) to transport you into Progresso where it is a two-minute walk to the beach. Taxis are available for the impatient for $6.00.

Cozumel is still in the throes of rebuilding after Wilma. Those on the Isla I talked with say they were at 75% of pre Wilma. I give it 50 % at best. They really were hammered but construction is ongoing everywhere. Downtown is the best recovered and most would never tell if they had not been there before. Things like the small Marine/Navy base downtown are just gone. The International pier is able to take one ship but its still broken in half at one spot. The pier at Puerto Maya will not be fixed until 2008! Cozumel is going to be a tender port for most for a while. Most establishments on the shore side of the road other than the El Cid Hotel are either gone are so damaged that they are not open. The El Cid has had a major renovation and is looking really nice. We ended up after several places we normally go are still closed (Reef Club, Nache Cocum) ended up between the two at Paradise Beach where you will find a nice clean establishment, plenty of chairs, American pricing (Cozumel is not cheap anymore) and the most sand on a beach that is currently available as I could tell. Right next-door is San Francisco beach with a similar operation.

Carnival in General
This is a great first cruise or getaway and if you book this time of year inexpensive. We had only a few kids on the ship and the passengers were for the most part from Texas and bordering states with a large dose of the Midwest and Mississippi and Georgia. Makes for a friendly crowd and for some reason this cruise had lots of Tattoos and Mullet’s and “Wow Would you Look at That’s” fairly entertaining in itself. We were one of two couples with Platinum status on the ship and were treated well. Military Rates if available to you are a fantastic deal. Overall I can honestly say one of the best bangs for the buck for a mindless vacation.

Pictures are up an web shots, I cant help but always seem to have my bride of 22 plus years in the most of them…happy to answer any questions.