Carnival Ecstasy Review
Wise456
My wife and I returned from the may 11th sailing of the Ecstasy out of Miami
this morning and I wanted to post a few comments for anyone interested in
cruising aboard this ship.
This was our tenth cruise so we have a pretty good frame of reference. We had
not taken a cruise aboard Carnival in about six or seven years and had read
some pretty good reviews, so we decided to take the plunge. We chose a four
day cruise as this was our first vacation without the kids and didn't want to
leave them for a whole week.
First, the high points. The ship is simply gorgeous. We expected it to be
gaudy and glitzy, but for the most part, the interior of the ship is tastefully
laid out. The five story atrium is the most impressive design we've
encountered on any ship and probably relegates the Norway's Club International
to second place on list of favorite rooms. There is a good deal of neon
throughout the ship, but it is tastefully used to reinforce a central theme.
Unlike the two Carnival ships we have previously sailed upon, there is only one
room which truly assaults the senses. The rest of the ship was really
something to see.
The design of the ship is also excellent. The stairways and elevators are
numerous and you really don't get the impression that you are on a megaship.
There is a ton of open deck space, and evn though the ship was at full
capacity, we had no problem finding open deck chairs, even in prime locations.
We were a little wary of sailing on such a large ship, but Carnival did an
excellent job of managing the 2,000 or so passengers. There were no real lines
to speak of at any of the buffets and we didn't have to wait to get off the
ship at the ports. Embarkation and debarkation were a breeze, as were the
transfers to and from Miami airport. The staff was cheerful and eager to help,
and thankfully, we were not under constant assault by the bar waiters and
waitresses to purchase drinks which I seem to recall from our past Carnival
cruises.
Finally, the ship was spotless and well-maintained. We had a great cabin
with a super balcony but more importantly, it met the three prerequisites in
our book - it had a good bed, a good shower and a good television set.
Now on to the negatives. First, the food was simply awful. We have
sailed on ships before where we thought the food was subpar, but this was truly
an exhibition in gastronomic depravity. My wife and I are not gourmands, nor
are we hypercritical, but I am sorry folks, when I take a cruise, I do not want
to see commercial bottles of salad dressing set out at a salad bar. I also do
not want to eat pre-packaged foods such as apple pies which are packaged by
Hostess (even though it brought back fond memories of school lunches which were
surely a notch above what we were eating!) When the "Gala Midnight Buffet"
consists of little more than five platters of cold cuts and the aforementioned
commercially-made desserts, I am going to complain. The majority of the
entrees served in the dining room were close to inedible. The safest choice
was the catch of the day. Soups seemed to be heated and served right out of
the can, and the dinner salads were limp and served with awful commercially
made dressings. After enduring two or three lunch and dinners in the main
restaurant, we sought refuge in the Lido Deck dining room where an alternative
meal was offered. This turned out to be worse than the fare available down
below. One expects that in a buffet setting, you can usually find something to
eat. Maybe the main entrees are not appealing but perhaps a cold salad or
side dish may be appetizing. Not on this ship, my friends. We were pretty
much reduced to eating breakfast and grabbing slices of pizza at the 24 hour
pizzeria, which consisted of an oven in which the pizza were placed to keep
warm. In all fairness, the pizza wasn't bad, but then again, I really would
like to eat something else aboard a ship.
I always try to compare the quality of the food to what one may get at
home. For instance, we cruised the Norway (for the third time) last December
and I thought the quality of the food had slipped a little and was comparable
to a decent one star restaurant back home. Nothing spectacular but one to
which you might go out and enjoy a nice meal. It is difficult to compare the
food served aboard the Ecstasy to any dining experiences at home becasue any
restaurant of that quality would be out of business in two weeks. Honestly,
folks, the food quality was not even up to that of a local diner! We heard
lots of folks complaining, and it really was a shame because the wait staff was
trying their hardest to please their guests. Why as the food so bad? You
could clearly see they were trying to cut costs by serving all of the premade
choices but that didn't excuse the deplorable and consistently awful dishes
turned out by the kitchen. How do you ruin steamed broccoli? My mother used
to cook the hell out of it and it would turn mushy, but it would still taste
like broccoli. On this ship, they must have waived their bad taste wand over
the vegetable because I couldn't even choke down more than one bite.
The entertainment was lousy, but not much lousier than other ships we have
sailed on.
I guess the sixty four dollar question is whether we would take another
cruise aboard Carnival. For us, the answer is a definite no, unless they take
some serious steps to improve the quality of the food served on board. Did we
have a good time? Yes we did, but I think if we had stayed a full week our
answer might be different. If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to
write.
Happy Sails,
Dave and Sue
JTThomas
Wise456 wrote:
> Now on to the negatives. First, the food was simply awful. We have
> sailed on ships before where we thought the food was subpar, but this was truly
> an exhibition in gastronomic depravity.
My husband and I were on the ECSTASY last October, and didn't think the
food was all that bad. At no time did we see the "bottles of commerical
salad dressing" on the salad bars, and we were rather impressed with the
Midnight Buffets. Were you on the 3 day or 4 day cruise?? (Not that it
would make a difference!).
I do agree that the decor on the ship was quite interesting, and I was
rather pleased with the service. Overall we had a great time on our
cruise, and are planning another one on Carnival.....your remarks about
the food were quite a surprise.
Jenny Thomas
Benjamin Smith
On Sat, May 16, 1998 5:59 PM, JTThomas <mailto:JTTh...@concentric.net>
wrote:
>I do agree that the decor on the ship was quite interesting,
i've seen pictures at sealetter.com. Gothic deco comes to mine. Very
strange stuff.
Ben S.
Cal Ford
JTThomas wrote:
> I do agree that the decor on the ship was quite interesting, and I was
> rather pleased with the service. Overall we had a great time on our
> cruise, and are planning another one on Carnival.....your remarks about
> the food were quite a surprise.
Carnival is consistant in one regard anyway.... People seem to either
love them or hate them.... no tweeners.... some people do seem to love
to hate them though....
If you like Carnival, then by all means Cruise Carnival and enjoy
life.... if you don't then there are lots of other ships on the seas....
Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises
Wise456
<<
Overall we had a great time on our
cruise, and are planning another one on Carnival.....your remarks about
the food were quite a surprise.
>>
We were surprised too. Believe me, we have no bones to pick with Carnival
and we still had a good time. But the food was truly awful, ten times worse
than our previous cruises aboard Carnival.
Happy Sails,
Dave