We went back to back. 9/17 was much better than the week before. The staff acted like they were all in training. My husband is a smoker. I am not. The Ecstasy has limited smoking to a small area on deck 11 and the casino bar on deck 9. The Bar service in both of those areas was the worst I've ever seen on both back to back trips on the Ecstasy. The tables on the Lido deck were seldom wiped off and when they were the staff left crumbs behind. My cabin steward asked me on Day 1 if I prefer the room to be made up in the morning or the afternoon. I responded, "in the morning, as early as possible". We were on board 10 days and it was never made up before 4 PM. My sign and sail card was mischarged twice the first week. Both times I received a credit, however, Guest Services was rude about it.

The staggered embarkation was wonderful. Disembarkation in Charleston is unlike other ports. The City doesn't allow the ship to use loud speakers for announcements. This actually worked in our favor because we stayed in our cabin and the announcements were broadcast on TV.

The cabin was typical. We kept the same cabin for both back to back trips. I highly recommend to plan on keeping the same cabin when you schedule your cruises. Read more