Carnival Ecstasy Review
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With three cruises under our belts, I am a firm believer that a cruise is as fun as you choose to make it. We have thoroughly enjoyed every single one of our experiences! Put a smile on your face and treat people well (other passengers and staff) and it will come back to you ten fold! "Where are you from" is the easiest and most natural way to make a new friend. Try it! :-)
Travel to Port of Embarkation: Ecstasy leaves from the easily-navigated Port Canaveral. We flew from Iowa into Orlando/Sanford airport on Allegiant Air. Direct flight and cheapest by far (even with bag/seat fees added). Sanford airport is about an hour drive from the Port. We fly in a day before a cruise to avoid any issues should there be travel delays. We booked a car with pick-up at Sanford Airport and next day drop-off at a location two miles from the port. The fee is higher when you don't return the car to the same location, but at around $80 bucks for the 24 hour period, it was no more expensive than the shuttles to the ship and it gave us freedom! We went to the Cocoa Beach Pier and shopped Ron Jon. We pricelined a hotel in the Cocoa Beach area and a $57 bid was accepted by International Palms Resort (however, that was about all the hotel SHOULD have cost! ha) Got up the next morning and visited a Native Rythym festival being held in Melbourne before heading back to return car around 12:30 p.m. (boarding ship scheduled to end at 3 p.m. and we made it with plenty of time to spare). The rental company shuttled us to the port with front door service! Nice. We tipped the shuttle driver $1 per bag.
At the port, we had our boarding pass and passport (in the case of my husband, an original birth certificate and driver's license) ready and zipped right thru security and boarding. I saw a couple huge bottles of gin that had been confiscated on my way thru line. Had they tried to disguise them as small children? I mean they were huge! LOL My diet mountain dew passed thru (happy dance!) I had never tried to take my own soda or water before, even tho I had read you could.
Cabin Review
Ocean View
Great location for the Wind Song dining room. 4 doors or so from the elevator that will take you to the dining room entrance. Also same end as the Lido buffet area which includes the 24 hour pizza and ice cream. Quite a walk tho to the middle atrium area, but once we got the floor plan down, it seemed easier. The room was just like any other room... so limited space, but sufficient. The one odd thing about this room was in addition to the King bed, there were two upper bunks hanging on the walls that weren't visible... kinda like a murphy bed they were hidden behind a wooden cabinet like thing. No problem until I went to crawl into bed one night and banged my head on the cabinet! OUCH. It was pretty quiet in our room for the most part. No complaints. Exception: celebrating cruisers getting their money's worth on the last night! HA -- good for them!