The evaluation of the Carnival Ecstasy completely depends upon your perspective. No, it does not compare to some of the nicer ships or more upscale lines. But, if you consider the price, it is a very reasonable value for the price.
Embarkation - Very smooth. No problem at all
Panoarama Grill - WAY too crowded. Not laid out well at all. Mongolain Wok always had a line backed up of 20+ people. Carnival needs to rethink this area to allow for better flow of people. The wok food was good....the rest was just average.
Basic outside cabin. Nothing special. Decent size. Adequate storage space. We also were had room R133. Our room was often hot. R133 was like a freezer. Also, the water temperature in both rooms was very hard to regulate.
Rode down to South Beach with our children....not a kid-friendly place but at least they can say they have been there.