I have been sailing on Royal Caribbean because of a bad experience with Carnival ]Triump three years ago. We decided to try Carnival again for a short cruise to the Bahamas because we got a really good price. We have never stayed on the lowest deck before, but we booked very late and that was the only oceanview cabin that was available. Turns out the lowest deck on Ecstacy was Deck 4 which was fine with us and turned out to be very convenient. I was concerned that the area across from our room was a space that could have been storage, but we never heard any activity at all. The room was a nice size and the bathroom was the largest we have ever had on a cruise ship and had a door on the shower instead of a curtain. The ship is old but is beautiful, spotlessly clean and well cared for. There were areas that could have smelled better in some areas, but a musty smell in an old ship must be expected. We really loved the whole cruise.

Dining: There ia one dining room with assigned seating and one was anytime dining. We had anytime dining and loved it and never ate dinner the same time the whole cruise. They will seat a couple alone if you don't ask to share, which we always did. We have been married 32 years and are retired so are happy to enjoy others when dining. We always had very interesting seatmates and never had to wait in line more than 5 minutes to be seated. The food was very good to just ok but never bad. Service was not as good as assigned seating because these waiters are not dependent on your tips and critique, but was never bad. One night we had to wait so long for dessert that our seat mates left, but they eventually showed up and were very apologetic. We did not eat in the specialty restaurants. I thought the buffet was excellent and always had a big choice of non-fried vegetables which isn't always the case.

Shore Tours: We never use ship tours because we are very experienced and either book online in advance or find something when we get onshore. This time we booked in advance online. I highly recommend Stuarts Cove for snorkeling in Nassau. We have been snorkeling for 30 years and this was one of the best. The boat was first class with easy entry and exit to the water. Three stops. One mediocre one fantastic, the last was to see sharks. The water was much clearer than we have ever seen in Cozumel, a big variety of fish and some pretty nice coral. Read more