Ecstasy Ship - Western Carribean Cruise? Anybody Experienced this? Please give me your thoughts ...?

Question

What were your options for the day you are in Mexico? What would you reccomend doing while on the ship? Best Places to spend time? worst? any other reccomendations for this specific ship?

Answer 1

When we stopped in Cozumel on the Ecstasy we took the excursion to Passion Island which was well worth every penny and every minute of the drive.  They take you on a bus with an aweosome tour guide and then take you on a boat to this private little island that is sooo beautiful.  There are these little cabanas all over that you can sit in and some little shops. There are maybe about 25-50 people on the whole island.  They have an authentic mexican buffet that is spectacular and all you can drink corona and margaritas.  It was heaven. I guess they have filmed a couple of corona commercials on the island so it gives you an idea of the relaxation and beauty.  It was a very relaxing excursion if you are sick of all the activity and just want to chill.

Answer 2

My mother and I went on the same cruise about 10 years ago. The ship was ok, at the time. Not sure what it's like now. The rooms were nic...nothing spectacular...clean, and that's all that mattered to us. Again, that's been 10 years ago.

There was a hurricane so they changed our route to Key West and the Bahamas, but my husband and I just went on a cruise on the Fascination from Miami to Key West and Cozumel and it was fabulous! In Key west we just took the shuttle into town and wandered around and looked at all the shops and then took an island tour that we set up once we got to town. That was neat! In Cozumel we set up an excurstion through carnival and I'm glad we did. The pier is all torn up from the hurricane last year so the boat docks in the middle of the water and you get on a smaller boat to take you to a temporary pier. If you didn't have a shore excursion set up with carnival you had to wait for everyone that did book one to get off the boat and then you could get on the smaller boat to take you to the island. We did the island tour. It was nice but I wouldn't do it again. Depending on your age I think there are better things to do! It was on an air conditioned bus and we were definitely the youngest people on the bus.....by 20 years, at least. Some people that we had dinner with did the ATV excursion and they said it was awesome! Cozumel had beautiful beaches...next time I think I would do one of the beach excursions. I saw some jeep excursions that looked cool too!

I can't really remember much detail about the Ecstasy but I know I had a fantastic time....but honestly, if I were you and knowing what I know now.... I would probably pick a different cruise on a newer boat. They have a ton of new boats!

Answer 3

The Ecstacy is one of 8 - yes 8 - identical ships that Carnival built in the mid 1990s.  Her sister ships are the Fantasy, Sensation, Fascination, Imagination, Inspiration, Elation and Paradise.  They are all in the mid-to-large category at 70,000+ tons and carrying 2000+ passengers.  Although they all have absolutely identical deck plans, the interior decor varies from ship to ship.  However, if you've been on one of them, you'll feel like you know all of them well.

I took my whole family on the Imagination last year - 8 cabins - it was their yearly presents all rolled-up into one. We went out of Tampa for 5 nights and had a great cruise.

The Imagination was very well taken care of - nothing seemed to be wearing out or in need of replacement. She only has about 20 cabins with balconys, and those are only in the suites, but even with her age, we found nothing lacking. The buffet gets crowded, but other than that I had no complaints. The food was OK - not great. The entertainment was the best of any ship I have been on - and we cruise at least twice a year, so that's a big endorsement. The bars and night clubs were a lot of fun - especially those on the Promenade Deck.

Your options for your day in Cozumel are almost endless - there are about 60 shore excursions that are offered by Carnival - I have copied the link for you, below.  Or you can just stroll the main shopping area downtown along the waterfront for some excellent bargans.  I was there 3 weeks ago and got a beautiful pair of cowboy boots.  They were marked $480 - I got them for $100 after "negotiating" with the shop owner.  Lots of fun.

By the way, you may not know that Carnival has the largest standard cabins of any cruise line - 185 sq. ft. compared to 155 - 175 on others.

Carnival delivered what it promised and we enjoyed our cruise, and I hope you do too!

Bon voyage!