Our cruise was an overwhelming success starting with the first contact with the travel agent. We drove to Galveston and arrived at the terminal at about 2:00pm, unloaded luggage immediately, parked and shuttled back to the terminal. There was about a :20 minute wait in line to check in and receive our Sign and Sail cards, and then we were aboard the ship. It was everything about a cruise ship that we had ever imagined, and seemed to be absolutely immaculate. Our cabin was near the elevator/stairs however, we experienced very little traffic past our door, and very little noise. We had an ocean-view stateroom and it was well worth the cost. There was plenty of closet space and drawer space. The bath was adequate and we had tons of fresh, clean towels. The bed was very comfortable and it was fun to find animals and chocolate mints awaiting us at bedtime! Our room steward was efficient and pleasant. We spent the first afternoon exploring. We were amazed to see the library, art gallery, the lounges, the casino, the "coffee house", the Blue Sapphire Theater, Wind Star Dining room, the 24-hour pizzeria and everything else. We are not sophisticated folks and so others may not be as impressed as we were. Our first impression was total sensory overload and we loved it. We had the late seating in the Wind Star and the next time we cruise, we will probably request the early seating. However, we found the cuisine interesting and delicious. It gave us a chance to be daring and try new dishes that we might not have otherwise experienced. Our wait staff was awesome and funny. We used room service twice and our meals were delivered within about 10 minutes of being ordered. We also visited the buffet for breakfast and lunch, and the pizzeria for a late afternoon pick-me-up. Everything was consistently good - hot was hot, cold was cold and all was fresh. We passed up Formal Night in lieu of room service. We saw some of the shows and really enjoyed them. We participated in some activities such as Name that Tune, Bingo, and a few other things. Being in our 60's we didn't have children but noticed that Camp Carnival seemed to be a very popular thing for the kids, and their parents. We booked 2 excursions through Carnival, to the ruins at Chicken Itza [Progresso] and the highlights and shopping in Cozumel and both were delivered as promised. Standing in lines to leave the ship and return are a necessary inconvenience but seemed to go relatively quickly. It would be nice if there were more than one place to disembark; for example, when we returned to the ship in Cozumel, they had 2 locations where you could go back aboard. Also, we wish we could have spent more time in port at both stops because we were only in port about 8 hours. We enjoyed shopping at the duty-free/tax-free shops on board. There are some expensive items available for purchase, but reasonable prices for some nice things are available, too. We kept all those receipts separately, and we packed an empty tote to use to carry our purchases off the ship. We didn't take advantage of the self-help disembarkation this time, but we will next time. We were among the last decks to be called to disembark and it took about an hour to leave our cabin, make our way off the ship, to the terminal, find our luggage, go through the lines for INS/Border Patrol and Customs, and leave the terminal. No one even took a second look at our luggage and we even wondered if Carnival somehow provided a list of purchases to the Customs people ahead of time. The Terminal Staff and INS/Border Patrol were pleasant. The shuttle driver stopped at each person's vehicle in the long-term parking lot and assisted unloading the luggage. To enable self-help disembarkation, we recommend using a suitcase on rollers that is large enough for one person's clothes, toiletries and foot-wear, and still small enough to handle. Each of us carried a back-pack but we had way too many pieces of luggage. Next time we will consolidate, consolidate, consolidate. The only bad experience we had was an annoying noise in the wall above our bed. Every time the ship moved, it sounded like something was knocking against the wall. We notified our steward, Merlyn, who promptly investigated it. It seems this ship was used in the Katrina relief, and when it was refurbished, something between the walls probably was not completely secured. The first couple of nights, it really bothered me when I was trying to fall asleep. At least they took it seriously and investigated. The ship was immaculate and we saw staff continually cleaning, wiping, and vacuuming. We are already planning another cruise and will probably sail on the Ecstasy again.