Just returned from the New Years cruise on the Ecstacy, from Galveston to the Western Caribbean. This was my 4th cruise on Carnival and my 5th over all (one on Royal Caribbean). I must admit that I was traditionally opposed to cruising as our vacation choice, but my wife won me over to try, and I now enjoy this form of vacation....that is, until this trip, which makes me want to go back to Vegas (or at least select another cruise line).
Basically, this was an ok cruise for the first half. Embarkation was no problem, and the ship left on time. We did not get our preferred early seating for dinner, but that was not a big problem. The food was ok (nothing special, but nothing to complain about), and our waiters were good.
The entertainment was stale, VERY stale. One of the comedians was Tony Stone, who did the same jokes we had heard from him on a cruise some years ago. One of the musical shows was the exact show we saw on this ship in 2006, Xtreme Country. It wasn't bad, but come on CCL, can't you trot out some new material. And how about a real headliner every now and then.