Our cruise was from Galveston to Progresso, to Cozumel and back to Galveston. It was our third cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines. It was really nice. This is also the third of Carnival's ships we have sailed on. This time we sailed on the Ecstasy. I must say, I liked this ship better than either Elation or Conquest. They both had their good points, but the dEcor of Ecstasy was phenomenal. I like to think of it as "Garish Tasteful". The elements were overstated to the point of actual attractiveness! The crew was international, like all of Carnival's crews, but there was a noticeable positive edge in this crew that I failed to see on the other ships. Prior to our departure, we filled out our preboarding information on the Carnival website, and printed out our Fun passes and our luggage tags. Since we live nearby, we were driven to the port and arrived at about 11AM. The formalities were quickly taken care of and by 11:30 we were on board eating the first of many really great meals on the Lido Deck. Our cabin was soon ready and we dropped off our carryon luggage and went to look around. We had an inside cabin, Category C4. This was the first time we had not had at least a window, but it was really not an issue. We were not awake in the cabin very often, and not having a window allowed us to sleep as late as we wanted! There was a mandatory life boat drill just at departure. It was nearly impossible to hear the well meaning young lady who was trying to tell us what to do, with a bull horn that she couldn't use correctly. Entertainment: The music was wonderful. Of special note were the harmonica selections of Jesse Lopez, the wonderful Piano Bar talent of the classically trained Angela Johnson, and the unforgettable Ron Crites who was single handedly the best band on the entire ship. Our first day at sea, it was overcast and cool, it warmed up considerably after that and didn't get cool again until we got back to Galveston. The food in the main dining room lacked the "special" quality that I have come to expect on my cruises. It was not very flavorful , often not hot enough and not very well prepared. For example, I had a French Onion Soup, which I dearly love. It was burned, not merely caramelized. It was served lukewarm and the congealed black mass at the bottom of the bowl, which should have been cheese and croutons floating on top, was hardly appetizing. In general, the main dining room food was less than ordinary. The food in the other venues (Pizza Bar, and the other Lido Deck locales) was outstanding. One aspect that I found troublesome was the cleanliness. Please don't misunderstand, the cabin stewards were first rate and the room was always well made up and well turned down. But, on the evening we left Progresso, as I was going to bed, a cockroach about an inch long, crawled across my pillow! This roach was probably born on the boat. It didn't come on board with me and I doubt that it could have crawled on from Mexico that quickly. A small black mark on an otherwise very good cruise. We had been to Progresso and Cozumel before so we decided from the outset to stay on board while in port. We took advantage of the time and the nearly empty facilities and allowed ourselves to be pampered. We elected to take our own bags off. They called the "Zone Numbers" and things could have worked well - except for human nature. Some people just don't follow directions very well. The ship's staff had to continuously admonish people to stay with the program and keep to their number groups and that it wasn't time for those whose luggage had been taken the night before. It was as if some people simply thought "What are they going to do? Throw us off?" Inconsiderate people made an easy process into a chore. We were able to get processed through the "Theater of Homeland Security" rather quickly, once we actually got on an elevator and got off the ship. For us it was a short walk across the street to a national Coffee Chain where we waited for our ride. All in all it was a very good cruise. We will sail with Carnival again.