Carnival
Ecstasy
Western Caribbean

Sheila, Frondi, and Tabitha

Age: 23,24, & 25
Occupation: Musician/Traffic Reporter/Insurance pusher
Number of Cruises: 1

This was our first cruise, with a brother (23), sister (25), and a friend (24). No couples, no children. This is our experience.

Embarking - We drove from Dallas to Galveston, starting at 8:30 AM with about a 4.5 hour drive. When you get to the port, there are signs that tell you where to go and where to park. As soon as we got to the port, we dropped our bags off. Guys in Hawaiian shirts come and pick up your bags for you because you can’t get on the parking lot bus with luggage. Make sure to tip them, make sure to tip everyone. It’s common courtesy. We couldn’t reserve a parking space (with EZcruise, etc.) and used the Galveston parking lot which was $50 for a five day cruise, paid up front. When we got back to the terminal, there was this huge Six Flags-esque snaking line; however it went relatively quickly, maybe 30 minutes. That’s where we showed our passports, gave our credit cards and got our Sign and Sail cards. Since there were three adults in our one room, we each had a separate account with separate cards. From there we had our picture taken and boarded the boat.

Cabin – We got to our salmon pink cabin on the Empress Deck, which is the main deck where the purser’s office, the photo gallery (there are photographers who routinely take your picture for purchase later), the piano bar, and the excursion desk are. It was pretty convenient staying on that floor, not too many stairs, unless you’re headed off the boat at ports or up to the spa/gym. Our room had two beds pushed together to make a king, and was really comfortable; with it’s huge down comforter and down pillows. We then met our room steward for the week; a really nice guy. They come in and tidy up your room twice a day. Once, when you are out during the day, and once when you are at dinner. Since there were three of us, they pulled down the wall bed for us during the second clean up. The first clean up of the following day, they put the bed back up for space. It’s nice. The room was very cold too, although you do have control over the level of the air conditioning vent, so we asked for extra blankets for the person sleeping on the bunk. The towel animals you’ve read so much about are cute, and we felt bad destroying them.

Dining and Alcohol- The food is great. I don’t know why people have complained about it. You get to eat anything you want and there’s always going to be something you like. Upon getting on the ship, they serve lunch before 3:30. Throughout the whole trip, you can always get food on the Lido deck and wear whatever you want. 23 especially enjoyed the “new york style” deli. In the dining hall, you have to dress up a little bit more, but nothing fancy or out of the ordinary, with formal night being an exception. The food in the Wind Star was great. We got a three course meal, plus dessert if you wanted it. It’s nicely presented food, and our waiter Lamine and his assistant were awesome. Near the end of each dinner, they offer coffee and tea, and 24 is a green tea drinker. They didn’t have green tea, but the assistant made a point to ‘order’ it. Every dinner after that, 24 got green tea after dinner. This touches 24’s heart.

As for alcohol, a can of Miller Lite was 3.95 and they had daily specials on one particular (weak) frou frou drink. We brought on our own wine, and also snuck on some liquor in water bottles with no problem, though we didn’t drink all of it. You’ll find that getting wasted EVERY night isn’t that appealing when you’ll be up early to go on excursions or plan on laying out in the sun. We didn’t bother with getting a soda card because water, iced tea, apple juice, fruit punch, and lemonade were always free. The room steward also always filled up our ice bucket for our wine and champagne.

Room service was also free, with the exception of tipping the guy that brought it to you. However, the food for room service is cold food only, like sandwiches. We only did it once for breakfast, because if we were hungry, we just went up to the Lido deck instead of waiting around in the room.

There’s a sushi bar on board, only open from 5:00-8:30 or so, and they only have four choices of the day, and you are only allowed two pieces of each type of sushi per order. This meant if you wanted more, you’d have to go back to the end of the line. It was good; nothing out of the ordinary.

Formal night is the night you get served lobster for dinner. Some people go way too far and wear their prom and bridesmaids dresses. It’s a bit excessive and uncalled for and they just looked stupid. 24 and 25 wore cocktail dresses, and 23 wore a suit and tie. It worked out well. This is also the same night that you get the midnight buffet, which is extravagant, but we were so full from dinner, that we couldn’t eat a lot, but it’s nice to see the presentation. Also on formal night is the Captain’s Cocktail Party, where they booze you up with free whisky sours, Manhattans, martini’s and some small appetizers. One is early for the early dinner, and there’s another for the late diners. This is the only time you’ll be able to drink for free, so we went to both because they don’t check.

Entertainment- Karaoke is supposed to be every night from 9 or so until midnight, but we went the night of our late arrival from Cozumel (10 PM), and it wasn’t going on. We enjoyed it, and sang a few numbers on various nights. We did a rousing Prince performance of “When Doves Cry,” and that was a highlight. There are shows every night at the Blue Sapphire, Las Vegas style, but we only went to one. It was “Xtreme Country Night.” We aren’t too fond of country music, but it was still enjoyable. There’s the Crystal Lights casino, where we all lost a little cash. Nickel Slots, Quarter sweeper, and roulette did us all in. Undoubtedly some bingo granny or drunken balding guy is shoving our dollar bills in a g-string as I type.

On the first “fun day at sea”, 25 went and laid on the deck to drink and make friends, while 23 and 24 went to the daytime “Champagne Art Auction,” which is a crock cause the champagne is BEFORE the auction, not during. We found that out the hard way. The art is neat, most of it signed lithographs, and there were some cartoon cells and framed sports memorabilia. It’s far too long and boring if you don’t plan on buying anything.

There’s also a gym that’s pretty nice. The equipment and machines seemed new, plus 24 kept showering in the spa shower because it was much larger and nicer than the shower in the cabin. The spa and gym look like the newest part of the ship, because it isn’t neon and 80’s looking.

The bars are a little lame. They’re generally pathetically empty until after karaoke ends at midnight, which isn’t your average karaoke lounge (200 people or so are in attendance at any given time). Then the dance club Stripes gets some action as well as the piano bar. Don’t expect to hear anything but disco or the occasional overplayed 50 cent. The piano bar is nice if you like that sort of thing, which 25 did. The two late-night (midnight) adults-only comics will please most people. One was the standard “I’m always horny” comic, while the other had your standard “This is how we are in Texas” routine. As for the other bars, the Chinatown Bar was almost always empty, as well as the Metropolis Bar. I’d recommend the Society Bar outside of the Starlight (karaoke) Lounge or the Neon (piano) Bar if you want to grab a drink out of total seclusion.

Ports of Call- We went to Cozumel first and had already booked a Beach Break Excursion online at Palm Beach. It was awesome. Our excursion included all we could drink and eat, and it was a quiet beach, more for adults. Water toys were an extra $5. There were no pesky children running around and our man Cesar, who brought us our drinks and food, was the greatest man ever. He even brought out our beers to us while we were in the water. The beach wasn’t at top shape do to that whole hurricane Emily (whore) thing, and it was a bit cloudy, but it was still wonderful. The food is supposed to be the best on the island, and it was pretty damn good. The six hours that we were there went by quickly. Afterwards, we wandered into town and bought a few things. San Miguel is kind of dirty and touristy. None of us were feeling so great since we had laid around on the beach getting drunk all day. The town was ok.

The next day in Playa Del Carmen, we went to our ATV Jungle and Cenote swim excursion, which was also booked online through the same company. It’s a lot easier and cheaper to do that, than to wait in line with the cruise. That was fun and dusty, and the cenote was very refreshing, but our tour guide was from the Netherlands and he was a dick. Despite that, it was still fun. Afterwards, we went into the town of Playa, and we liked it much better than Cozumel. The shopping was better and the beach is free and right there, plus the sand isn’t made of coral so it was smoother on the feet. You spend a lot on taxis in Mexico. Plus, we had to be back on the ship by 4pm, which was annoying. That’s just not enough time to spend on land.

Disembarking- They warn you that this is the most annoying part of the trip, but it doesn’t have to be. We needed to get back to Dallas for lunch reservations at 3:30 so we self-embarked which means we didn’t leave our luggage out the night before to be picked up in their luggage warehouse when you go through customs. You’ll need to get up and out of your room before 8:30 if you want to do this; the earlier the better (starting at 7:45, though when you’ll get through depends on when the ship is cleared with customs). We joined the mass of people and made our way down to customs. All in all, getting through customs, getting in the bus (w/ our luggage) to the car, and getting on the road took about 30 minutes. We were back in Dallas in plenty of time.

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