My husband and I just returned from what we could classify as a 2 star experience cruise remarking that this will probably be our last cruise with Carnival. Which is unfortunate. Our previous experiences on Carnival Fantasy and Legend have been good if not exceptional. We are not picky people or complainers and can have a good time just being out on the ocean watching the blue waters pass us by. Our very first cruise was with Fantasy when it first called Charleston SC its home port. Having never been on a cruise we really didn't know what to expect. Thankfully we had an experienced travel agent who guided us on what parts of the ship would be a better travel for sea novices like us. We booked an interior room and had the best time. We couldn't believe we hadn't done it before! The value we received for our money was tremendous in the fine dining as well as casual food, the guest care we received and those over-the-top treatments that actually had us feeling guilty for being gushed over so much. We were amazed at the amount of entertainment available on board and were never bored with our at sea days and even spent the port days mainly on the ship. Even though it was a large ship we managed to find places tucked away here or there where we felt completely alone to enjoy each other and the views. It was an amazing first cruise.

Our second cruise was on the Legend from the Tampa port. This was our first balcony room – and we were sold! We swore we would never cruise with anything other than a balcony room. There was just something about being able to wake up in the morning and step out on to the balcony and watch the sunrise and likewise experiencing the sunsets from your own room. Our service personnel were very attentive and we had the best time.

When we found out that Carnival was bringing the Ecstasy to Charleston and it had balconies – we had to book a trip. We had such good experiences on the last 2 cruises, we were counting down the days for about 3 months; we were so excited to get away again and experience a relaxing and exhilarating trip. It had been a hard couple of years and we had saved to pay for the trip. It was nice to board the ship knowing that it was all paid in full and we didn't have a financial weight over our head. Read more