Carnival Ecstasy Cruise - September 3, 2022 - Embarkation Day

We booked this cruise fairly last minute (about 5 weeks before sail date).  I wasn't excited to get back on Carnival again as it really just doesn't fit what we enjoy very well but this cruise had three really great things that would make it worth it.  

1. It left from Mobile, less than a four hour drive from our home which makes it incredibly convenient.
2. It included a stop in Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico which was a closer port to get us to Chichén Itzá Mayan Ruins.  We had already planned to visit Chichén Itzá on a cruise later this year but that excursion was very expensive and left from Cozumel so included a lot of travel time (including a ferry ride) and very little time at the site.  In Progreso, we eliminated the ferry ride (saving us almost 2 hours of travel time) and would get about twice the time at the site.  Plus Carnival's excursion was almost half the price.
3. We couldn't beat the price.  The 5 night cruise cost about $520 including port taxes and fees and included $500 of on board credit which covered the cost of our shore excursion, wifi package, gratuities, and some drinks.

Another kind of unique thing about this cruise is that we would be sailing on the Carnival Ecstasy during her last season in service.  After her October 10 cruise, she will be sold.

Embarkation day started by waking up in our own home at 5:00 a.m.  We were on the road before 6:00 a.m. and dropping off our bag with the cruise porters by 10:20 a.m.  Paul was able to get a great end spot which we believe was the same spot we parked in when we cruised on the Fantasy in 2019.  

Embarkation lines looked really long but went quite quickly.  We used the Verifly app but didn't see how it saved any time so wouldn't bother with it next time.  We were boarding the ship by 11:15 a.m.

Walking into the atrium on deck 7 brought back memories of our time on the Ecstasy's sister ship, the Carnival Fantasy which we sailed in 2019.  

Our first stop after boarding was our muster station.  I love how things have changed since the re-start.  We scanned our boarding pass at the Blue Sapphire Main Lounge (theater) and were directed to watch the short speech and demonstration of how to put on a life jacket.  Within a few minutes, we were off to  find lunch and explore.

At our Muster Station presentation

Lunch on the Lido Deck
A burger from Guy's Burger Joint and Tacos from Blue Iguana Cantina
(both were as good as we remember)

And of course soft serve for Paul!

Checking out the view from the Lido Deck

The famous funnel

We were able to get into our cabins about 1:30 p.m. and this might have been a highlight for me.  We had splurged a whole extra $10 (from the cost of an interior cabin) for a double porthole cabin.  What I didn't expect was all the tugboats and boat traffic that would be almost eye level with our portholes, especially while in the Mobile port.

Here is a tour of our cabin.  We were in cabin M24 on the Main deck which is deck 5.  It really was a great location and generally in pretty good shape.  The bathroom floor (which was bright blue) was a bit unique as it was quite lumpy.

Check out how wide these halls are!

Our suitcase arrived a little after 3:00 p.m. and sail away was set for 4:00 p.m. and we ended up leaving about 10 minutes early.  I started unpacking but then hurried up to stake out a spot to watch sail away up on deck in the front while Paul finished unpacking.  The Carnival Ecstasy has two great spots to watch from the front.  One is directly above the bridge and is a fairly large area.  The other is a narrow strip up on deck 14 in front of the mini golf course.  The deck 14 was already wall to wall people but almost no one had found the large area over the bridge and so that is where I set up for a time lapse video.  

We then found a table on the lido deck towards the back where we could watch the scenery go by as we cruised out of the bay and enjoyed some dinner from the Deli and Pizza Pirate.  Sea gulls and Brown Pelicans followed us for quite some time.

I checked out the Alchemy Bar and was quite disappointed in the slow, unfriendly service and the misleading sign about a discount (when there was no discount).  This has always been my favorite bar on Carnival ships so I was a bit disappointed.

We also did a little shopping for a ship model and checked out Cherry on Top (the candy store).  Unfortunately, they have stopped selling the gummy funnels.  We then caught one of the comedians, Dino Vigo in the Starlight Lounge for his first show.  He really wasn't all that great.  We missed the days when George Lopez was associated with the Punchliner Comedy on Carnival ships.  The comedians were so much better then.  Well that about wraps up our embarkation day.  The next day would be our first at sea day.

Carnival Ecstasy Cruise - September 4, 2022 - At Sea

We were reminded of one of the reasons we don't fit in so well on Carnival cruises when in the middle of the night, people from across the hall decided to host a party in the hallway that went on until Paul got up and politely told them we were trying to sleep. 

As is often my tradition on cruise ships, I set an alarm for early to be up and about before the sun rose.  I was walking through an empty atrium before 6:00 a.m. finding my way up to the outdoor decks.  The sunrise was pretty and the few people out were a bit entertaining.  I passed at least one who clearly had been drinking so late, he had not been to bed yet.  And many others were wandering around in pajamas and robes.  Nothing, even the cafe, was open yet.

I spent some time exploring the ship before finally settling in the Serenity Adults Only Area at the back.

 

At some point while I was sitting in Serenity, Paul had woken up and unsuccessfully went in search of me but took a few of his own sunrise photos.

Paul really wanted to try the 12 Hour French Toast and so we decided to try the Sea Day Brunch.  Carnival now makes use of their app for Anytime Dining at night and for breakfast and brunch in the main dining room.  When you are ready to eat, you check in to the app and once a table is ready for you, you get a notification with your table number.  A line of servers waits outside the dining room at the start of meals to help people find their tables.  

Even though you have to actively check that you want a shared table, we quickly learned not checking it doesn't actually guarantee you will get a private table.  We checked in shortly before 8:30 a.m. and didn't have to wait long to be notified our table was ready.  We were then shown to a large table where they had squeezed 10 people around what should have been an 8 person table.  

Waiting for the notification our table was ready

Paper menus were no where in sight and we were directed to scan the QR codes on the table.  They quickly took our orders and it didn't take long before our food arrived.  Instead of serving things in courses, everything was brought out at once which as you can imagine was a bit of a challenge for 10 people at a table meant for 8.  And those who asked for a croissant or danishes were each brought a plate of multiple of them.  It really was quite an unpleasant experience and made us hesitate to return to the main dining rom anytime soon.

We spent much of the morning enjoying the quiet of the Neon Piano Bar which is really a unique lounge.

We returned to our room to find it had already been made up even though we asked for evening service - oh well!  We had our first towel animal.

For lunch, we picked up burritos at Blue Iguana Cantina and took them down into the atrium to people watch.

We did a little more exploring.

Kathie Lee Gifford is the ship's Godmother.  This is from the ship's Naming Ceremony.

This year was both the Ecstasy's first and last season sailing out of Mobile, Alabama.

In the China Town Lounge, there is half of a produce truck (made to look whole by a mirror) that was a bit intriguing.  

That evening was formal night.  The menu in the main dining room didn't really interest us and we really didn't want to repeat the experience at brunch so quickly so we stopped at the Alchemy Bar for drinks, hoping for a better experience (which we did not get) and then celebrated formal night in the buffet.

That evening, we watched the colors of the sky change as the sun set from Serenity.

Carnival Ecstasy Cruise - September 5, 2022 - Cozumel, Mexico

 We are no stranger to Cozumel.  Paul has joked that they should give us honorary citizenship after all the times we have stopped there.  This was a sixth visit there, third since the restart with 2 more scheduled still this calendar year.  As we stood above the bridge to watch our arrival, a gentleman overheard us talking about the different piers and speculating as to whether we would back in or not and so he asked us "How many times have you been here?"  So beyond walking off the ship to get some good photos and videos of the Ecstasy, we had no plans to do anything on land in this port.

Breakfast enjoying the view from the aft before our arrival in Cozumel

Above the bridge watching our arrival

After arrival, we decided to take advantage of an empty ship and try out Carnival Waterworks.  There was a fairly long tube slide which I really enjoyed (although Paul got a bit stuck in) and then there were racing slides.  After a few runs down the slides, we found some loungers and just admired the blue of the Caribbean Sea and the Grandeur of the Seas parked at the other dock.

Mid-morning, we took a short walk around the port area.

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas was also in port
(Royal Caribbean's oldest ship, just like the Ecstasy is Carnival's oldest ship)

We found the small nature area.

Iguana

Back on board, I took some time to film some footage for my ship highlights video and to just relax in the various lounges.

Some more photos of the blue of the Caribbean Sea in Cozumel.

Grandeur of the Seas

At sail away, I went up above the bridge to see if there were any pier runners and I was not disappointed.  And the captain was clearly impatient enough to blow the horn several times!

That evening, we decided to give the main dining room a try and we were actually seated at a private table.  Our servers were really good.  Carnival now has MenuMate on iPads to handle dietary restrictions.  They select your allergen and then it shows you which dishes are already free of that allergy and which dishes can be easily modified.  For some reason, chefs don't seem to think they can cook without dairy so I didn't have many options but I found something I could eat.  I was able to pre-order of the next night so my dishes would be ready.  Paul was able to enjoy his favorite melting cake for dessert.

There were two musicians/musical groups on board that we especially enjoyed.  L'Estro was a pair of violinists that usually played a few hours each evening in the Atrium.  Kiara Taylor was a singer/acoustic guitar player that usually performed in the promenade.  We tried to catch each of them most nights.  While listening to Kiara Taylor in the Promenade, I tried one of Carnival's beers, the Parched Pig Toasted Amber which was quite good.  Our evening ended a bit early because there was a very rowdy group of women playing some game that seemed to involving yelling and screaming who had chosen a table just a few away from the performer.  They were get some pretty dirty looks from both the performer and others trying to listen but that didn't stop them.