Background Information: I embarked on a cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy on July 1, 2006. I was 11 years old at the time, and traveling with my family. This was my second cruise aboard the Carnival Ecstasy.
Embarkation: We arrived at the Port of Galveston at about 11:30 A.M. Our ship was set to leave at 4:00 P.M. As we pulled into the port, a porter was immediately available to take our bags. My dad went to park our car in one of the cruise terminal lots, and the rest of my family went inside the terminal. There was a group of chairs set up outside of the cruise check-in line, and we waited here for my dad to come back from parking the car. As we got in line, we were given a letter saying that the Ecstasy was clear for boarding, but that our staterooms would not be available until 1:00. The embarkation process took about 20 minutes. The longest wait we endured was the line for the photo that you have to take before boarding the ship. We were on the ship and eating lunch in the Lido deck restaurant by 12:15.
Stateroom: For this cruise my family had an oceanview stateroom on the Upper deck. The room was very spacious and decorated nicely. I knew that the staterooms had just been remodeled after the Ecstasy's charter in New Orleans. The stateroom had a new flat-screen television, new Carnival Comfort bedding, a small chair, a desk area with drawer space, and a closet area that had ample storage space. The bathrooms were not large, but they were big enough to move around in. The sample basket had alot of nice things. Our cabin steward kept the stateroom spotless throughout the cruise.