Cruise number four came much sooner than we would have expected. Within three months of getting home from our cruise in August we booked a cruise for spring break in March. The difference is, we were taking our kids with us this time! My parents also joined us. It was a great family affair!
Cruise details~
Embarkation Port: Galveston, Texas
Ship: Carnival Ecstasy
Date: Sailed 3/6/2010
Length: 5 Days
Destination: Western Caribbean, Progreso/Cozumel Mexico
(Click on a destination above to go to a detailed review for that stop!)
Embarkation~
Some family friends dropped all of us off at the Port of Galveston. From the time we were dropped off, to giving our bags to the porters, to going through the check in process, and boarding the ship, 30 minutes may have passed. It was great. Especially since we had two very surprised and excited kids tagging along. James and Evie didn't know they were going on a cruise until we got out at the pier!
Itinerary~
Our options are fairly limited if we want to leave from a port that is driving distance from home. We also knew we wanted to do a 5 day because we weren't sure how our kids would handle being on the sea. Scott and I were looking forward to this itinerary because it was one we were familiar with. Choosing to go back to Progreso and Cozumel allowed us to do quite a bit more research ahead of time.
We had a jam packed first day at sea. It's crazy what a difference sailing with others will make. We still had a fantastic time, but it is obviously a different kind of cruise. We geared our day towards showing the kids even more of the ship and all the things they could do. One of the extra fun things was playing at the newly renovated Water Works. The Carnival Ecstasy had come a long way from the single water slide that she had the first time we sailed on her. This time there was a large twisty slide plus two side by side slides (fun for racing!) and a splash pad type area. At this point in the cruise, it was pretty chilly still. Spring in Texas has nice weather, but when you get on the water and are on a windy deck, it makes for a short visit at the water slides. We weren't worried though. We knew warmer days were coming! In addition to playing in the water, we also showed James and Evie the ping pong tables, mini golf course, and introduced them to Camp Carnival. When we all got chilly we'd hop in the hot tub. When we got hungry, we'd get a snack. My kids were in Heaven! That super fun day continued into formal night and then their first show on board a ship. After all the excitement it's amazing to me that we were able to get the kids to bed. Especially knowing that the next morning they would be waking up in Mexico!
James and I woke up early on the morning we arrived in Progreso. We were ready to get off the ship! Once everyone else was awake we got our stuff together and went for some breakfast while we waited for the Go Ahead to get off the ship. Once my parents were with us and we knew it was ok, we made our way to the shuttle that would take us along the 4 mile long pier to the mainland. I have a more detailed account of our day HERE in my Destination Review: Progreso. We wanted to save money so we decided to eat lunch on the ship after touring Progreso. We took our lunch to the Water Works area. My parents, Scott, and I ate while we watched the kids play. By the time we were done there, it was time to get cleaned up for dinner.
Dinner was followed by some play time at the arcade. It was an eventful day for James and Evie, but we had even bigger plans for the next day, so we got the kids to bed "early". My mom stayed with them in our stateroom while my dad, Scott, and I went out for some more fun. We went to one of the lounges and watched some karaoke, including my dad! Our day ended with the Guest Talent Show and then we turned in for the night. We were excited about our plans for Cozumel!
We were all so excited to get off the ship in Cozumel, but our stomachs told us we should eat breakfast first. We took our food up to an open deck and ate while people watching and waiting for my parents. We had a fabulous time at Chankanaab Park in Cozumel. I go into a lot more detail in This Post! As if we hadn't had enough sun, after we got back on the ship with went straight to the water slides. If you must leave paradise, waving goodbye to Cozumel from the top of a waterslide is a pretty good way to go.
As had become our tradition, our last day at sea was spent doing mostly nothing. James and Evie went back to Camp Carnival while the rest of us sat out on deck and people watched. We also had some fun at the waterslides and snacks from the buffet. All our "lasts" were pretty bittersweet. Heading back to Galveston, the weather started to turn....
We woke up in the morning expecting to see the Port of Galveston. Instead, we just saw fog. LOTS of fog. Fog so thick we couldn't see the water. We couldn't see one end of the ship from the other while on the top decks. It was crazy! We weren't sure how long we would be fogged out, so at first we went along as normal. We had our big final breakfast, and then found a place to wait with our carry-off bags. (We had decided to do the relaxed debarkation so our big luggage was taken care of already.) Well, we waited for a couple hours before it became clear the fog wasn't going to be clearing up soon. We moved from place to place around the ship so that the kids wouldn't get too antsy. The crew was fantastic about keeping us updated. Even when there was nothing to update about. All you had to do was look outside and see that we couldn't move. We were only 12 miles from the port, but it just wasn't safe to go on. The crew also came up with activities for the guests to participate in. Evie got a medal for doing the hula hoop contest. :) Morning turned into afternoon and the fog wasn't looking any clearer. Just before dinner we found out that we would not be making it to Galveston and would have one more night on the ship. Of course there were unhappy guests, but my family was thrilled. We had already spent most of the day, what was a few more hours? Especially when it included more delicious food and a second showing of the show we all liked so much! Our bags were returned to our room and we swapped out clothing and other necessities before putting the bags back out for pick up. The room stewards definitely worked extra hard this day. They had already set up the staterooms for the guests that would be sailing on the next cruise. Some of them had to re-do the rooms to make them ready for the guests to get back in that night. The next morning we did wake up having arrived at the port. We were in no hurry to get off the ship though.
Debarkation~
You know you've had a fantastic cruise when you are among the last 15 people off the ship. By choice. We lingered and watched out the windows until the cruise director called all remaining passengers, and my very reluctant family made our way down to swipe our sail and sign cards on last time.
While it was fun to wait so long, it actually made for a very, VERY, long line going through customs. We hadn't thought about that until we were off the ship and saw the line. Mom and Dad stayed in line with the kids, while Scott and I found all our luggage. We ended up being in line for about 2 hours. We learned our lesson there. Enjoy being the last off the ship one time, but then go as soon as possible on any other cruise. :)
This and That :) ~
The Ship
As mentioned before, The Carnival Ecstasy had been refurbished since the last time we sailed. Much of the decor was the same, but other updates had been made. I think the biggest difference was adding Carnival Waterworks. There were some additional food options added as well. Overall, the ship looked fresh and as always I was impressed with how well the crew kept up with its appearance.
The Food
Enjoying the food through the eyes... or mouths... of my kids was even more fun than enjoying it myself. They got to eat food that they will likely only ever eat if they go on a cruise. Something that was offered every night was a different kind of bisque. James and Evie loved it! They both ordered it every night.
This cruise we found a new favorite dessert. At least, Dad and I did. The bitter and blanc dessert is bread pudding with a delicious, white chocolatey, creamy sauce... only, I don't care for bread pudding, so I can't call it that. It's just so amazing. I wish it was served on every ship, every night. Of course the other desserts are yummy too. You can't go wrong with the warm chocolate melting cake. Bonus, if you order the fruit plate, you can have chocolate covered fruit for dessert. :-D
James and Evie loved the fact that we could order room service. Even with it's limited menu, we love to order. The fact that it's included in the cost of the cruise is wonderful. We made sure to tip the guys who delivered our food. (prepaid tips don't include these hard workers.)
Our Cabin
Our cabin, U189, was an ocean view stateroom, on the Upper Deck at the rear of the ship. It was just like our past ocean view rooms, only it had two beds that pull down from the wall. One was over the head of our bed, and the other came down over our feet. If needed this cabin can also sleep one more person. At turn down service, the cabin steward will bring in a rollaway bed. It makes for very little room, but the beds are put up during the day, and really the only time we spent in the cabin was when we were getting ready for dinner or getting stuff together to get off the ship. It worked for us. I've heard the suites are bigger and better for families, but if you want to cruise for as little as possible (and still have a view) this is a great option!
Camp Carnival
We had hesitated to bring the kids on a cruise as young as they were, but I'm so glad we took them. It was fun to experience the cruise with them, but also have Camp Carnival as an option. We never made James and Evie go, but each day we looked at the activities that would be happening and we would try to make sure they got to do the things they wanted to do. One day Scott, my parents, and I were hanging out in the atrium lobby and we heard a lot of noise coming our way. The kids in James' age group were on a scavenger hunt to find Funship Freddie. I thought that was a very fun way for James to have a little independence away from us, while still being supervised and see the ship. Both kids also got to color a t-shirt and do face painting on multiple days. All of the crew working with Camp Carnival were so nice. They genuinely seemed to enjoy being there. Of course this seems to be the case with all the ship's crew.
Entertainment
Steve Cassel was the cruise director on this cruise. I believe he has retired now, but if that's true, it's unfortunate. He was wonderful. Very energetic, but what got my attention the most was when he played his fiddle. One of my favorite shows was on the Carnival Ecstasy. I saw it three times between the two cruises I have been on with that ship. The second two times, Steve Cassel was featured playing his fiddle during the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". It was incredible! Also at the end of the Guest Talent Show he played Vivaldi's "Winter". It was so beautiful, I was on the edge of my seat listening.
Other entertainment included the traditional singing and dancing waiters. Some people don't enjoy this part of dinner, but as long as we aren't forced to actually get up and dance with them, we really enjoy it. :)
Service
I can't give enough praise for the service we received on this cruise. Our head waiter stood out especially. His name was Hristo, but he said we could call him Chris. We had anytime dining for dinner, but after the first night with Chris as our server, we asked how we could get him every night. The wonderful hostesses and Maitre D told us that if we could get to the dining room close to opening every night, they should be able to seat us at Chris' table every time. We were happy to make that happen. Chris nicknamed Evie, Sunshine and from the first night on that was what he called her. She loved it! So much that after getting a stuffed animal while on vacation she named it Sunshine also. Chris also spoiled the kids by cutting their food after it was served every night. There were so many little things that were unnecessary, but that made our dinner time that much more special. I wish Chris could be our server on every cruise.
While this was a totally different experience, cruising with our kids, it was no less enjoyable. We knew the dynamic would be different and were excited to show our kids everything we knew about cruising. And now James and Evie are hooked on cruising too!
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