Carnival Ecstasy Review
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We chose this cruise for the convenience of sailing out of Charleston (only a 2 hour drive from our home.) We had a wonderful cruise and would cruise again on the Ecstasy and from Charleston. We are a family of four with 2 early 20's adult children.
Charleston Port - Our selected check in time was 11:30-12:00. We easily arrived at the parking area at 11:10. However, we then sat in a line of cars for 20 minutes and did not start moving until 11:30. Once we started moving (slowly), we had to go through 2 check points (still in our car), where they checked your boarding passes and passports. At 12:10 we were finally unloading our luggage from our car (we decided not to carry on our luggage.) We were then directed to a warehouse were we could park our car. It is nice that your car is in a covered area while you cruise. There was plenty of port authority staff directing you where you needed to go and they were all very pleasant. Shuttle to check in area was easy. We did more waiting at the port but Carnival had about 36 check in windows open. Again, everyone was as pleasant as can be. At 1:10 were were finally on the boat. Our stateroom was ready at 1:30.
Food - We thought the food was decent. We had the "Your Time" dining which meant you could go anytime between 5:45 and 9:00 to eat in the Windstar Restaurant. On the Elegant night we went at 7:00 and had about an hour and 10 minute wait before they were going to be able to seat us. On another night we waited about 20 minutes. We thought the food in the Windstar Restaurant was decent but nothing special. Loved the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. For us, we enjoyed the Buffet at the Panorama Bar and Grill. There was a different variety each night and it was really good and the line moved quickly. The Mongolian Wok was very fresh. You picked your items and they cooked it right in front of you. The pizza was also very good but they made it as you ordered (unless you happened to time it right that they had just finished baking some) so you usually had to wait a little bit for pizza. The omelet station was also very good but longer lines. We loved the soft serve ice cream and desserts were mostly fresh and a good variety to choose from. There was also a nice salad bar during lunch and dinner.
Cabin Review
Ocean View
We had an ocean view room with a king bed. Beds and pillows were comfortable (unless, like my husband, you like flat pillows.) There was a safe in the room that you could enter your own code to use. There was plenty of closet space with hangers. There is also a few narrow drawers and a few shelves in the closet for your items. There is only 1-110 volt electrical socket. Bring a small adapter if you need more sockets. There is an ice bucket and wine glasses and the steward will get you ice. There are a couple laundry rooms where you can wash or iron clothes. You can not bring an iron on the boat. The bathroom was an ok size. The sink is a pedestal sink and there is just a small shelf above the sink to put things on. The shower had shampoo and shower gel pump dispensers. Our bathroom issue was NO cold water. The water sometimes coming out of the cold was actually burning hot. Never could get an answer as to why this was happening but we weren't the only ones having this issue.
Port Reviews
Charleston
Charleston Port Authority needs to get a little more organized. We easily arrived at the parking area at 11:10 am. However, we then sat in a line of cars for 20 minutes and did not start moving until 11:30. Once we started moving (slowly), we had to go through 2 check points (still in our car), where they checked our boarding passes and passports. At 12:10 we were finally unloading our luggage from our car (we decided not to carry on our luggage.) We were then directed to a warehouse were we could park our car. It is nice that your car is in a covered area while you cruise. There was plenty of port authority staff directing you where you needed to go and they were all very pleasant. Shuttle to check in area was easy. The whole process took longer than it should have.